The government has received so much attention that it has taxed business and companies more heavily in the past year. The additional power tax has received the most attention, as electricity prices and thus power revenues have increased greatly. The salmon tax has created far greater division, also internally. The additional employer’s tax on incomes over 750,000 has also received harsh criticism. But now Ap may advocate for several new taxes and fees. At the national meeting, which will be opened in Folkets Hus on Youngstorget on Thursday, there is a proposal to re-introduce an inheritance tax and increase the taxes for industries that use Norwegian natural resources: Vestland Ap believes that a “basic rent tax on offshore wind and power cables on the continental shelf” must be introduced. Oslo Ap will do the same. Larvik Ap wants to have ground rent tax on extraction of stone – and has received support from the county association in Vestfold and Telemark for “ground rent tax on mineral extraction”. Several parties, including Stavanger Ap, will introduce a new form of inheritance tax. In Trøndelag, AUF is advocating a “generational tax on the receipt of large forms”. In addition to introducing a national property tax, where the income fell to the municipality, AUF in Trøndelag will also remove the opportunity the municipalities have to adjust the reduction in the property tax rate. Oslo Ap wants a “comprehensive change to the tax system”, where the tax base will be shifted from work to property. BASE RATE: The question of whether a base rate can eventually be introduced on offshore wind power is a hot topic. Large Labor groups such as Oslo and Vestland think this will be right. Here is a floating offshore wind turbine off the coast of western France. Photo: SEBASTIEN SALOM-GOMIS / AFP Mineral Land rent tax is paid from income obtained by exploiting the community’s natural resources, such as water, wind and sea. The term comes from the English “ground rent”, i.e. land lease or land lease. In Larvik, where, among other things, larvikite has been extracted from the mountain for years, Ap teke has advocated for the introduction of a municipal ground rent tax on the extraction of stone. The proposal has the support of the county team in Vestfold and Telemark. – When the local team in Larvik advocates for this, we will gladly pass it on to the national meeting for consideration, says county manager Truls Vasvik to news. He says it is natural to take the discussion about ground rent tax on extraction of stone and minerals in connection with the big debate about ground rent on power, wind and aquaculture. – But we do not mention stone directly in the recommendation from the county board, and there is no such thing as municipal ground rent. At the same time, it is a good principle that when you harvest the resources in the community, something should come back to the community, says Vasvik. He is a day-to-day parliamentary representative for Ap. – Excellent milk cow But financial policy spokesperson for Høgre Henrik Asheim believes that the proposal shows a party that every time it makes new policy, first has to look at who is going to pay for it. – This is a sum which means that both ordinary families and people, but also our companies and workplaces, will get strong tax increases if all this is adopted, he says to news. – There is a party that now sees the private sector as an inexhaustible cow that they can only milk. SKEPTICAL: Senior deputy leader Henrik Asheim is very skeptical about the Labor proposal on new taxes and fees. Photo: Stian Lysberg Solum / NTB Asheim believes it is wrong that those who inherit money should pay tax on that inheritance. – They must pay the tax when they have the money, he says. The senior deputy leader fears the introduction of ground rent on aquaculture will also open the door to such a tax on other industries. – I actually hope that Ap listens a little to SP’s national meeting, which adopted lower taxes and fees for business. – But without these taxes, there will be less money left for welfare, does Ap think? – It is simply wrong. We must first create those values before we can distribute them. And having a tax system that is competitive, which means that we create jobs and value, is the best prerequisite for also getting tax revenue, says Asheim. – Good principles Vestland Ap is behind the most comprehensive proposal for land rent on offshore wind. The development of Norwegian offshore wind is in the initial phase. – If you spend money on Norwegian natural resources, you must contribute a portion back to the community, in the same way as the schemes we have within hydropower and which are now coming to onshore wind power. PRINCIPLE: Helge Robert Midtbø in Vestland Ap believes it is right to eventually introduce a ground rent tax on offshore wind projects. Photo: Adam Pietrzak / news That’s according to deputy manager Helge Robert Midtbø in Vestland Ap. He believes this is a “fundamental and good principle” to have with you when offshore wind is to be developed. – But this is a new industry in the start-up phase, which will not be profitable at the start. We clearly must not do it in such a way that we place such a large burden on the shoulders of the actors that we do not get out of the starting blocks in such an important industry as this will be for Norway in the future. The wording in the proposals from Vestland and Oslo is similar: “There must be a ground rent tax on offshore wind and power cables on the continental shelf”. SVELE CELEBRATION: Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Energy Minister Terje Aasland enjoyed themselves with svele before the press conference in March on the announcement of the first Norwegian offshore wind projects. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB Being developed The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy is now in the process of awarding the first two offshore wind farms in Norway, with a capacity of a total of 3 gigawatts to start with. The government’s target for offshore wind is currently 30 gigawatts of installed power by 2040. WIND PARK: The government says it is not appropriate to tax offshore wind at the present time. Here is Equinor’s wind farm outside Great Yarmouth in the UK. Photo: Darren Staples / Reuters Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland has rejected the idea of introducing ground rent tax on offshore wind in the two areas that are now to be clarified. This applies to Sørlige Nordsjø 2, which lies 20 miles from the Norwegian coast down towards the sea borders of Denmark and Germany, and also Utsira north outside Haugesund. – We have said that ground rent should not be introduced by us on offshore wind, and that is also the premise when we light up the area, Aasland (Ap) told the website Europower in March. Also in the recommendation from APS central board to the national meeting it is stated that “basic interest tax on offshore wind is not applicable at the present time”. But they do not completely close the door in their recommendation to the national meeting: “… if at a later date there is an expected ground rent in offshore wind power, a ground rent tax can ensure that a larger part of the surplus in the industry is collected for the community. ..”, it says. Saying no to inheritance tax One of the first things Erna Solberg (H) did when she took over power in 2013 was to abolish inheritance tax. But the discussion lives on after the tax commission recently proposed a tax on inheritance, with a higher deduction than before. From today’s Ap/Sp government, the message has been clear in several cases: there will be no new tax increases. As recently as this week, Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum (Sp) denied to news that there will be any new housing tax. REJECTS: APS’s financial policymaker Frode Jacobsen rejects that it is appropriate to introduce new taxes and fees no. Here together with Prime Minister and Ap leader Jonas Gahr Støre at Filipstadkaia in Oslo. Photo: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB Frode Jacobsen, fiscal policy spokesman for Labor in the Storting, says there are no plans for inheritance tax or ground rent tax on offshore wind. – It is good that the party organization puts forward proposals for the national meeting. But the program Ap went to the election in 2021 and which we govern the country on now, does not contain any proposals on inheritance tax, he says to news. – What about ground rent tax on offshore wind? – There are many tax proposals that have been discussed, even after the tax committee presented its recommendations last autumn, he says, and adds: – What we can say now is that there will be no new, major tax changes and new taxes from the government no in the near future. – What do you have to say to Høgre? – The right voted for 80 per cent of the government’s tax changes. That Høgre claims that the government creates uncertainty and unrest is spin and political nonsense. Higher education should be honest about what they do and dare to stand up for it. Asheim also agrees with the description that Høgre himself has been responsible for many of the tax increases. – When the price of electricity is very high and the power company earns a lot of money which we have to pay out through electricity subsidies, it is quite right to say that they should pay more in tax. We have been involved in that, he says. – But we have been against increasing the employer’s tax on salaries over NOK 750,000. We have been against increasing dividend tax and wealth tax.
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Labor demands for tax on stone and offshore wind – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
