The Local/at · 17 Feb 2014, 09:50 
 
 Published: 17 Feb 2014 09:50 GMT+01:00 
 
 Abba has pulled the sequined rug from under its fantastic stage outfits, with Björn Ulvaeus confessing that they were designed to fend off the Swedish taxman. 
 
 "In my honest opinion we looked like nuts in those years," Björn Ulvaeus said in the new publication Abba: The Official Photo Book. "Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were." 
 
 The reason for all that glitter, Ulvaeus said, was to keep the Swedish tax authorities (Skatteverket) at bay, as stage clothes need not to be wearable in everyday life. 
 
 IN PICTURES: Abba's stage outfits over the years 
 
 While Ulvaeus was referring to spandex and satin in the 1970s and 80s, the Swedish tax code has changed little. One of Sweden's Nordic Noir personalities, crime thriller writer Camila Läckberg, as late as last year had her knuckles rapped for trying to pass off normal fashion as work wear in her tax returns. 
 
 "It should be fantasy clothes, pure stage clothes, clothes with the employer's name or logo, or other attributes that make them clearly distinguishable from ordinary garments," Sweden's Tax Agency (Skatteverket) said in an official statement about Läckberg's outfits from Zara, Karen Millen, and Hope. 
 
 ALSO IN PICTURES: Abba through the years 
 
 In order for a business owner to get money back on taxes for clothes purchases, the official verdict stated, it was not enough that a dress or a blouse makes it into one of the many public events or television shows in which Läckberg has participated. 
 
 VIDEO: Swedes sing their favourite Abba songs with The Local reporter Oliver Gee 
 
 Story continues below… 
 
 Nor have Swedish celebrities escaped the eye of the taxman in other matters either. In fact, Ulvaeus himself at one point was accused of not paying taxes to the tune of 85 million kronor ($13.2 million) between 1999 and 2000. He went on to successfully appeal the claim. 
 
 Joey Tempest, of Europe and Final Countdown fame, was also pulled into a quagmire of tax evasion claims. Most notoriously, however, legendary film maker Ingmar Bergman left Sweden after being accused of tax crimes in 1976. ||||| The glittering hotpants, sequined jumpsuits and platform heels that Abba wore at the peak of their fame were designed not just for the four band members to stand out – but also for tax efficiency, according to claims over the weekend. 
 
 Reflecting on the group's sartorial record in a new book, Björn Ulvaeus said: "In my honest opinion we looked like nuts in those years. Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were." 
 
 And the reason for their bold fashion choices lay not just in the pop glamour of the late 70s and early 80s, but also in the Swedish tax code. 
 
 According to Abba: The Official Photo Book, published to mark 40 years since they won Eurovision with Waterloo, the band's style was influenced in part by laws that allowed the cost of outfits to be deducted against tax – so long as the costumes were so outrageous they could not possibly be worn on the street. 
 
 In 2007 Ulvaeus was wrongly accused of failing to pay 85m kronor (£7.9m) in Swedish taxes between 1999 and 2005, and went on to successfully appeal against the decision. 
 
 "I am of course very happy that I have been informed in writing that I have always done the right thing concerning my taxes," he said after the court victory.
– The crazy outfits ABBA was known for donning onstage? The band didn't pick them solely based on a love of sequins and spandex, the Guardian reports. Rather, Björn Ulvaeus confesses in a new book, Swedish tax laws allowed bands to deduct money spent on costumes, as long as the clothing in question was so insane it could never be worn in any other capacity than onstage. "In my honest opinion we looked like nuts in those years," Ulvaeus admits in ABBA: The Official Photo Book. "Nobody can have been as badly dressed on stage as we were." In order to be deducted from taxes, clothing "should be fantasy clothes, pure stage clothes, clothes with the employer's name or logo, or other attributes that make them clearly distinguishable from ordinary garments," according to an official statement procured by the Local.