On 1 January each year, several new laws and amendments come into force. Some affect many, some affect few. Professional director of the Consumer Council, Jorge Jensen believes it is unreasonable to expect ordinary consumers to be up to date with legislative changes that are made. – It makes very high demands on consumers, almost too high. Jensen says banks, insurance companies and the like are good at speaking up. It helps everyone to stay up-to-date. – In addition, the media does a good job. I myself became aware of a change in the law that I did not know about through the media yesterday. Here you get an overview of various laws that come into effect at the turn of the year: The Financial Agreements Act From the turn of the year, the bank will be prohibited from giving loans to people without sufficient creditworthiness. The law also places the financial responsibility on the bank if BankID is misused. – The law is important for those who are exposed to fraud and those who want to apply for a mortgage. The bank will have an increased responsibility in protecting its customers, says Jensen of the Consumer Council. Jorge Jensen is specialist director at the Consumer Council and leads the work on the prevention of financial vulnerability among consumers. Photo: The Consumer Council The Consumer Council has been working on the act since 2017. The act will also determine concrete threshold values when banks are to issue mortgages. That is, how much the banks can lend to customers. Usually, home buyers are tested with a 5 percent interest rate increase when applying for a mortgage. This will change to 3 per cent from 2023. Housing savings for young people (BSU) People who save get 10 per cent instead of 20 per cent again on tax for the money deposited. Those under 34 have so far been able to save up to NOK 27,500 a year in BSU. 20 per cent of this, NOK 5,500, has been reduced in tax for the year. Now this figure is halved, and you can only reduce the tax by 2,750. The weakening of the BSU scheme saves the state more than NOK 600 million in annual expenses. The maximum amount you can get in tax deductions due to savings in BSU will be reduced from 1 January. Photo: Josef Benoni Ness Tveit / news Violence Compensation Act In September, the Government adopted a new violence compensation act. In December, the new transitional rules came into force. The new law contains several changes: Requirements for where an act of violence has occurred have been changed. Which acts of violence can you get compensation for. And when the deadline for applying for compensation expires. This means, among other things, that the deadline for applying for compensation has been set at one year after any dismissal and six months after the final judgement. Previously, claims for victim compensation could be made as long as the criminal case was not time-barred. Tax and fee changes Several taxes, fees and arrangements are being changed. Among other things, VAT will be introduced on electric cars for the part of the purchase price that exceeds NOK 500,000. The wealth tax rate in step 1 (between NOK 1.7 and 20 million) increases by 0.05 per cent. Read how your wallet is affected by these changes here: The Dog Act The Dog Act came into force in 2004 and a major review has been carried out. There are changes in most areas so that it is by far a “new law”, according to Per Racin Fosmark in Lovdata. The Act on Responsible Dog Keeping is largely a new law that replaces the Dogs Act. Photo: Sondre Skjelvik The changes were adopted in May 2022 and the law the new name Law on responsible dog keeping. This is to highlight that the changes will help to a greater extent prevent injuries and inconveniences related to dog keeping, the government writes. The new Dog Act requires dog owners to have the necessary skills to handle the dog – both in daily life and in the activities they are involved in. There will also be a ban on walking away from a dog that is tied right at the entrance to a building that is open to the public, or at playgrounds. The tobacco quota From 1 January, the amount of tobacco you can take with you to Norway will be halved. The change in law only applies to persons resident in Norway. The halving of the tobacco quota means that you can only bring one of the following into Norway after the New Year: 100 cigarettes 125 grams of other tobacco products, such as snuff or rolling tobacco 100 grams of other nicotine products, or 100 cigarette papers The new rules also apply to tax-free products, which are sold to travelers at Norwegian airports. Weapons amnesty From New Year’s until 1 June, people can hand in illegal weapons to the police without risking punishment. – The gun amnesty is a very good opportunity for the individual to hand in weapons and in that way contribute to preventing crime and accidents involving firearms. This is what Minister of Justice and Emergency Preparedness Emilie Enger Mehl says in a press release. The amnesty also applies to ammunition and to illegal weapons that are not firearms, such as electric shock weapons, illegal knives and tear gas. Photo: The State Nature Inspectorate The amnesty also applies to ammunition, explosives, grenades and to illegal weapons that are not firearms, such as electric shock weapons, knives and tear gas. When there was last a weapons amnesty in 2017, more than 88,000 firearms, almost seven tonnes of explosives and 30 grenades were handed in. During the weapons amnesties in 2003/2004 and 2008, 35,700 and 13,600 weapons were handed in respectively.
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These laws come into force on 1 January 2023 – news Nordland
