This thesis discusses taxation of benefits, which shareholders and company leaders can enjoy from close corporations. The Government said in the government bill lead- ing to the amendments regarding taxation of benefits, that it should be the possibility alone to enjoy benefits that should be the reason to impose taxes on company lead- ers. The Swedish tax agency (Skatteverket) has agreed to that statement. In other words, it isn’t necessary that someone actually enjoys the company’s assets for pri- vate use, it is enough that they have the right of disposal of them in order to be taxed. The question that arises is how a benefit can be defined as something you can enjoy rather then something you actually enjoy.

The objective of this thesis is to straighten out if there are legal grounds for imposing taxes on company leaders just because they have the right of disposal to the compa- ny’s assets, and in that case which those legal grounds are.

Different courts have interpreted the law in different ways in a number of cases, which this thesis gives an account of. In summery, the conclusion is that there are a legal grounds for imposing these taxes on company leaders because of their right of disposal to the company’s assets. The case law has interpreted the law and the gov- ernment bill, and from that interpretation developed a rule that declares that owners and leaders in close corporations shall be taxed based on their right of disposal.

The reason for this is that the vision for the enactor is to reach neutrality between people who run and own companies and people who are employed in a regular way. The rule that assess company leaders in close corporations because of their right of disposals preventing people from letting their company pay their private cost of living.