– Now we will introduce a basic rent tax on aquaculture. That is correct, says Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to news. He believes the settlement is a compromise that “collects broadly”. It is the Labor Party, the Center Party, the Liberal Party and Patient Focus that have now agreed on a basic income tax on aquaculture – colloquially referred to as the “salmon tax”. This is one of the few times the Patient Focus party has decided a case in the Storting. – Patient focus is happy to contribute to the tax being lower and getting a better facility than it could otherwise get, says the party’s sole representative Irene Ojala. Venstre’s Sveinung Rotevatn says he has had enough of “political games”. – This important industry deserves predictability. The government proposed a salmon tax of 35 per cent, SV wanted it at 48 per cent, Venstre wanted it at 25 per cent, and we are very satisfied with the result, says Rotevatn. Geir Pollestad, spokesperson for fiscal policy in the Center Party. Photo: Bjarte Johannesen / news The government’s own budget partner, SV, believes the agreement was “too bad” for them to support it. – This has been a miserable process on the part of the governing parties, where we have been constructive and ready for negotiations, but of course we cannot support an agreement where we do not get approval for our most important priorities, says fiscal policy spokesperson Kari Elisabeth Kaski. She promises a rematch on the tax rate in the autumn. – It is clear that there will be consequences if the government chooses to form a majority on such a large tax, with such a narrow majority, without SV. This means that we will return to that issue in the autumn. SV’s fiscal policy spokesperson Kari Elisabeth Kaski believes it has been a lousy process on the part of the government. SV does not support the agreement. Photo: Kai Rune Kvitstein / news But both the finance minister and the prime minister refuse to change the rate. – The level that is now, it will be, says Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp). Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Ap) adds: – We look forward to negotiating well with SV on budgets. We have had good experience with it and will meet them in a good way. But it is important that there is stability around taxes, especially for business, and it must be so in this area as well. Today’s settlement in the Storting is based on the model the government previously put forward, with the following changes: The effective tax rate is reduced from 35% to 25%. The valuation discount in wealth tax is increased from 50% to 75%. The host municipalities and counties are guaranteed a higher income from the Aquaculture Fund for 2023. In addition, several request proposals are put forward to strengthen the environmental profile and contribute to technology development. AGREE: Patient Focus, the Center Party, the Labor Party and the Liberal Party today agreed on a settlement on the salmon tax. Photo: Kristian Skårdalsmo / news Facts about ground rent tax Ground rent tax is paid from income you get by exploiting the community’s natural resources, such as water, wind and sea. Comes from the English expression “ground rent”, i.e. ground rent or land rent. When a wind farm has been set up in a mountain area or a salmon farm has been built in a fjord, the area is not freely accessible to others. Access to natural resources is limited, and this limits competition. This makes it easier to get extraordinarily high incomes in industries that utilize natural resources. Basic interest tax must be paid on income the companies receive in excess of what they can normally expect from their own investments and work effort, as a result of this benefit. Basic interest tax is also called super profit. Today there is a basic interest tax on hydropower and oil production, and the government will introduce this on wind power and salmon farming. (Source: NTB) The Conservative Party: – Messy process The Conservative Party is not impressed with the government’s process. Fiscal policy spokesperson Helge Orten calls it all “messy”. – The government’s messy process has now reached its provisional end. As SV is not part of the agreement, annual budget negotiations with SV can result in increases in the tax. This does not contribute to predictability for this important industry, he says to news. Orten confirms that the Conservative Party will vote against this agreement when the matter goes to the floor next Wednesday. Helge Orten, spokesperson for fiscal policy in the Conservative Party, believes the government’s process has been messy. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Frp’s deputy chairman Hans Andreas Limi is surprised that Venstre has agreed to the settlement. – The Liberals now stand together with the government against the coast, District Norway and the seafood industry, and accept a model that the entire industry rejects, he says. – It is surprising that the government and the Liberal Party do not want the seafood industry on the team, he adds. Ap, Sp, V and Patientfokus also agree on the following proposal: The Storting asks the government to ensure that environmental indicators for the traffic light system are in place from the auction round in 2024. Indicators must be investigated and assessed, such as the impact on sea trout, emissions and mortality. The Storting asks the government until the state budget for 2024 to examine proposals to introduce ground rent tax on offshore aquaculture. The investigation must clarify whether there is a basis for ground rent on offshore aquaculture. The Storting is asking the government to introduce a scheme which means that reduced production as a result of the traffic light system can be produced in closed technology. The Storting asks the government to present a proposal for an environmental technology scheme during 2023. The Storting asks the government during the spring of 2024 to present a case on better organization of the cooperation between authorities and the farming industry to ensure more comprehensive management, better sustainability and better fish welfare. The Storting asks the government during the spring of 2024 to present measures for increased processing of seafood in Norway. The Storting asks the government to ensure that funds are added to the Aquaculture Fund as if the production tax were increased from 56 øre to 90 øre from 1 January 2023. – A bad day for the coast General Manager Fredd Wilsgård of Wilsgård Fish Farming in Troms and Finnmark believes it is a “bad day” for the coast, despite the fact that the tax rate has been significantly reduced. – There is very little we can do, he says. He feels that the government has not had a real desire to have a dialogue with the industry. Community contact at the farming company Grieg Seafood Finnmark, Roger Pedersen, is more positive: – 25 per cent is significantly better than 35 and 40 per cent. We have to look at the details of the facility and what is proposed before we can say anything about the totality, he writes in an SMS to news. Breeder Fredd Wilsgård in Senja believes this is a bad day for the coast. Here he is talking to one of the fishermen who delivers to the reception at Torsken. Photo: Øystein Antonsen / news Ap mayor Sigurd Rafaelsen in Lebesby is satisfied that a majority has now agreed. Several farming companies are based in his municipality. – It is good that the host municipalities are prioritized in this proposal so that we can create good welfare services, and ensure that it is good to live when you have to work and live at the farm, he says. news previously wrote that this was the first time Patient Focus decided a case in the Storting. It is not true. A few weeks ago, the party was also decisive in a matter about the relocation of government workplaces.
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Agreement on salmon tax in Parliament – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
