The case in summary: Kirsten Davidsen has paid property tax for a foreign woman’s cottage for six years. The error was discovered in 2023, and the money had been withdrawn from Davidsen’s account since 2017. In total, Davidsen has paid just over NOK 10,600 extra in property tax. Bodø municipality has agreed to repay for the last three years, without interest, but this will be deducted from future property tax. The woman who owns the cabin also claims to have paid property tax, which Bodø municipality denies. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Just before Christmas in 2023, Davidsen discovered an amount of a couple of hundred kroner that was withdrawn from her account and paid to Bodø municipality. When she followed the money trail, she saw that these small amounts had disappeared from the bank account since 2017. The same year that the municipality introduced property tax. – It turned out that the amount had been withdrawn a few times a year for the past six years, says Davidsen. In November, a small amount was withdrawn from Davidsen’s account. The recipient was Bodø municipality. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news Got a chin slip She therefore contacted both the accounting department and the building and property department in the municipality to find out what this was all about. Then she heard that she had not only paid for the tax on her own apartment for six years, but also on the cottage of a strange woman. – My jaw dropped when it dawned on me what had happened. The payment is made through direct debit, and it is not clearly stated what it is for. There was no name on it, unlike the property tax for the apartment. The woman she paid property tax for previously lived in the same apartment that Davidsen moved into in 2015. Bodø municipality introduced property tax in 2017. Since then, Kirsten Davidsen has paid property tax for another person. Photo: Benjamin Fredriksen / Ola Helnes / Benjamin Fredriksen / Ola Helnes – They have simply invoiced the wrong person. I have never been to the cabin before, says Davidsen. In total, the Bodø woman has paid just over NOK 10,600 extra in property tax. After she made the municipality aware of the mistake, they must have agreed to pay for the last three years and without interest. Read the response from Bodø municipality further into the matter. This corresponds to less than half of the amount. Davidsen says that she will not be paid the amount, but that it will be deducted from future property tax. Frustrated Davidsen is disappointed and frustrated by the response from the municipality. – I don’t understand why they make so much trouble for a pittance. Why can’t they make up for themselves? Davidsen hopes she will be reimbursed the entire sum from Bodø municipality. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news Kirsten Davidsen goes on to say that the bank has also confirmed that the sums shown on her account statements have gone to Bodø municipality. Davidsen also contacted the woman who owns the cabin in the popular cabin area in Bodø. – She said that she has also paid property tax for the cabin, which I have paid. Bodø municipality rejects this. – Bodø municipality cannot find that there has been double payment. If the cabin owner has documentation that she has also paid, Bodø municipality will gladly accept information about that, writes department director Knut Hernes in Bodø municipality in an e-mail. news has been in contact with the woman who owns the holiday home. She says that she has had a dialogue with Davidsen, and hopes that everything will work out for her. Beyond that, she does not want to comment on the matter. The municipality has been paid twice and owes me, says Kirsten Davidsen. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news Kirsten Davidsen says she has little desire to give up. She says that she has tried to contact the municipality again and has complained about the matter to the municipality’s complaints board. – I said I could come down to the town hall and bring all the documentation. But they are not interested. Nobody wants to talk to me. No one at the municipality has said “sorry, we’ve made a mistake”. It’s my fault for not following through. – Has sent the invoice to the right person Department director Knut Hernes in Bodø municipality informs news that the municipality has sent the invoice to the right person, but that it has been paid by Davidsen. He says that in connection with taking over the apartment in 2015, direct debit agreements for municipal fees were transferred between Davidsen and the other woman. – Thus, the agreements for the leisure property have probably also been transferred. Whether this is due to an error, the parties themselves must answer. Head of technical department in Bodø municipality, Knut Hernes. Photo: Sigurd Steinum / news – Who is responsible for this? – The municipality has sent an invoice to the correct recipient, and it is not our responsibility to see who pays the invoice. We have many invoices that are paid by people other than the one to whom the invoice was sent. This is basically a matter of private law. The municipality also states that they have no obligation to pay the full amount Davidsen has paid. – The municipality’s access to credit or post-invoicing in accordance with the Property Tax Act is limited to 3 years back in time, says Hernes. And adds: – In this case, the municipality has tried to help the injured party by crediting her and sending a new invoice to the party who was supposed to pay for the last three years, as the limitation in the law says. For other years, we recommend that the parties come to an agreement on
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Kirsten paid property tax on the cottage to a foreign woman for six years – news Nordland
