Sigur Rós were recently investigated for alleged tax evasion in their home country of Iceland — though it all seems to have been a misunderstanding.
As The Reykjavik Grapevine reports, an inquiry by the Directorate of Tax Investigations in Iceland spurred the investigation.
As a result, 800 million ISK (roughly $10.5 million CAD) worth of the band members' assets were frozen, including 13 properties, two motorcycles, two cars, six bank accounts and shares in three companies, all belonging to frontman Jónsi.
The band denied any involvement in a financial scheme, claiming rather that their accountant had simply made an inadvertent mistake.
According to the Grapevine, the band members settled their outstanding debt within hours.
"This was quite annoying and extremely costly for us," bassist Georg Hólm told Morgunblaðið. "We thought we had a good relationship with this accountant, we fully trusted him, but then it turned out he hadn't handed in the right documents at the right time. This is nothing but a complete mess that we had no knowledge of until we were notified by the Commissioner."
It's unclear exactly how much the band had to pay up, but as the Grapevine notes, it is illegal to freeze or detain assets at a higher value than the debt itself, according to Icelandic law.
As The Reykjavik Grapevine reports, an inquiry by the Directorate of Tax Investigations in Iceland spurred the investigation.
As a result, 800 million ISK (roughly $10.5 million CAD) worth of the band members' assets were frozen, including 13 properties, two motorcycles, two cars, six bank accounts and shares in three companies, all belonging to frontman Jónsi.
The band denied any involvement in a financial scheme, claiming rather that their accountant had simply made an inadvertent mistake.
According to the Grapevine, the band members settled their outstanding debt within hours.
"This was quite annoying and extremely costly for us," bassist Georg Hólm told Morgunblaðið. "We thought we had a good relationship with this accountant, we fully trusted him, but then it turned out he hadn't handed in the right documents at the right time. This is nothing but a complete mess that we had no knowledge of until we were notified by the Commissioner."
It's unclear exactly how much the band had to pay up, but as the Grapevine notes, it is illegal to freeze or detain assets at a higher value than the debt itself, according to Icelandic law.