The government has announced that the state budget for next year will be presented on 6 October. The income will grow, but not as much as the expenses of 100 billion, according to the finance minister. A gap of tens of billions must be closed, but where will the Støre government get the money? Several newspaper commentators speculate, among other things, from a new special tax for the salmon industry. The rumors have frightened mayors and farmers along the coast, and now SP mayor Sigrun Wiggen Prestbakmo in Salangen municipality is demanding that the government put the rumors to rest. – The state must find another way to plug the hole in the state budget than sticking a straw in local businesses and the community along the coast, she says to news. But the coastal mayor does not get the clarification she is hoping for from the Ministry of Finance: – Tax and duty changes will be presented in the state budget on 6 October. We do not comment on what may come there, says communications manager Therese Riiser to news. SP’s parliamentary group has not been available to comment on the matter, while Labor refers to the government for answers. In Salangen in Troms, Salak runs salmon farming and smolt production. Photo: Øivind Arvola Falling on deaf ears in the capital Over the past year, mayors along the coast have worked for the government to remove the increase in property tax for farmers. If the government responds by slapping on more taxes, Prestbakmo warns that the jobs along the coast will be depleted within a few years. – It is a robbery of the coastal communities if you realize the wealth tax or also the ground rent tax, she says, who talks about the warning she gave to the government: – I have told the municipal minister that if this is implemented, he must prioritize crisis packages along the coast. Mayor Hallvard Oppedal (Sp) in Gulen is also aware of the threat of special tax. – I don’t want it. We are struggling in the coastal municipalities to get the government and the Storting to understand that it is not just about taxing the rich, but local ownership, he says to news. Hallvard Oppedal is mayor of the Center Party in Gulen municipality. They house the salmon farmer Firda Seafood. Photo: Ådne Dyrnesli / news – My phone has been red-hot The fear really took hold in the industry after Politisk kvarter was about land rent tax on Friday, according to former FRP minister, now director of Seafood Companies, Robert Eriksson. – The phone has been fiery red with me since Politisk kvarter, he says to news. Some people are crying, according to Eriksson, and warn that a special tax will be the hook on the door when wealth tax and dividend tax have also increased in 2022 (see fact box). Basic rent tax in the aquaculture industry Salmon farming has gone from being a small industry in the 1970s to becoming Norway’s second largest export industry after oil and gas. The profitability is so good that several economists believe the state should collect a special tax because the breeders make money from Norwegians’ common resources. In 2019, the Aquaculture Committee advocated that the politicians should introduce a ground rent tax for the farming companies, in addition to corporation tax. It would have given an extra 7 billion to the treasury. The proposal created a heated debate which ended with most parties opposing land rent tax. Committee leader and economics professor Karen Helene Ulltveit-Moe has later said that the salmon lobby is the strongest lobby she has come across. Other taxes Instead, a majority in the Storting voted for the salmon industry to pay a production tax of 40 øre per kilo of salmon slaughtered from 2021. Before the Solberg government stepped down in the autumn of 2021, the government proposed to increase the wealth tax for the farmers. The tax increase was to take place by the fact that farming permits from before 1998 were to be valued according to today’s market value and included in the calculation of the owners’ wealth. The Støre government kept the tax change in the state budget for 2022, in addition to the fact that the rate for wealth tax itself increased from 0.85 to 1.1 per cent. The change means that breeders became richer on paper when the tax was to be calculated because the value of the assets was inflated. The wealth tax is paid privately by Norwegian owners. Several say that they have to withdraw more dividends from the company to pay the tax. In 2022, dividend tax also increased in real terms from 31.7 to 35.2 per cent. Eriksson believes the rumours, because another ominous sign has appeared: the government has moved the date of the auction for farming permits from September 27 to after the national budget. No justification was given. – Then I start to get a sick feeling in my stomach. Is it because there will be big negative things in the state budget? The fact that you procrastinate may indicate that there is something in it. The government must clarify this, he urges. Read also: Tax shock for farming: – Breaks the back of local ownership – The majority are small millionaire companies Eriksson asks the politicians to pull the emergency brake if increased taxes are on the way. He says that the breeders can sell or merge with increased taxes. Then the breeding cages will remain, while slaughterhouses, office workers and the processing industry will be centralised, he warns. – It will result in a complete destruction of the coast. It will remove local ownership and shift power to Oslo and the stock exchange. It will make it easier for foreign owners to take a larger share of the aquaculture industry. The result will be the exact opposite of what the government went to election on, says Eriksson. Robert Eriksson heads the Seafood companies. It is a politically independent industry organization that represents all levels of the seafood industry. Photo: Kjell Peder Gyldenskog – Commodity prices have increased, and many billionaires in the country are salmon billionaires. Can you explain why the farm owners cannot afford to have any particularly increased tax burden? – That’s because we have around 100 farming companies in Norway, most of which are small million-dollar companies with anything from 2-4-6 licences. All honor and admiration for what Gustav Witzøe has achieved, he is an industrial journeyman of rank and has created 1,800 jobs on Frøya with Salmar, but not everyone is like Witzøe. The smaller companies have different operating margins, says Eriksson. – But the breeding facilities cannot move out of the country? – No, they cannot be moved out. But if the privately owned companies have to sell as Øylaks did to Salmar this week, the offices can be moved anywhere. There is no problem, he says. Slaughterhouses are among the workplaces that can be centralized with increased taxes, warn the mayors and the farming industry. Photo: Lars-Petter Kalkenberg / news
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Asks the government to stop rumors about a tax shock in the coastal industry – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
