– I know how fluctuating we are as pensioners, I have way too much, yet I scream when I have to pay the damn tax, but I have enough to take off so I find my way around it and think that it must be right, laughs Netten Grav. She is 95 years old and plays cards at Tåsen senior center in Oslo. Like other pensioners in Norway, she pays a lower tax rate than those who are in work. – And yes, we can pay more if young people are left with more, she continues. Netten Grav (95) is open to paying more tax More tax for pensioners – The number of pensioners is increasing and they are getting better and better affordability. And then we have the young people at the other end, where there is an increasingly large proportion who live on the outside and in poverty, says Ragnar Torvik. He is a professor of social economics. As head of the tax committee, he comments on the figures from the OECD that came out recently. One of the findings was that poverty shifts from the elderly to the young in Norway. Photo: Therese Lee Støver He believes that the public tax committee is proposing things that can help: – We have a peculiarity in the Norwegian tax system. The tax on pensions is lower than on salary income. We calculate that it costs us 25 billion a year. The young do not have the same low tax as people on pension income. The red graph shows how people quickly pay 30 per cent in income tax. Pensioners (blue graph) pay less tax. Source: The Tax Committee It should pay to work Torvik says the differences are getting bigger because of several things: – Many young people have mortgages. There are high interest rates. There has been a high price increase. Those with higher pensions can pay more tax. We will then use the money to reduce the tax on low and medium incomes. We propose what is called an employment deduction. There is a transfer of values from the rich elderly to the poor young, he says. – It is a change, but a change that will both reduce alienation and poverty among the younger generation, continues Torvik. Can pay more At Tåsen senior center in Oslo, news meets pensioners when the dinner service starts at 12. Opinions are divided on more tax on pensions, even if it applies to those with high incomes. – We have a number of benefits we don’t need, but there is a big difference between pensioners as well, says Sissel Bakke over the table with cards. – It is the case that a pension is earned income, so I don’t think there is any point. On the other hand, most older people are very well off, and in that sense the pensioners with a high pension could pay more, says Erik Nord. Photo: Sunniva Linjord / news – For example, we get courtesy tickets where the subsidy could benefit others, he continues. – The inheritance tax is gone. Otherwise, one should consider taxing wealth more than the pension income itself, says Johan Aursjø. – Not accurate Jan Davidsen is leader of the Pensioners’ Association and does not like the tax proposal. – Even if you target a high income, it will not work since we are then talking about an annual income of NOK 300 to 400,000. That’s below an industrial worker’s wage. Therefore, this is not foolproof, says Davidsen. – We have a decline in real incomes. It is also the case that many older people are encouraged to maintain housing and make arrangements themselves. Then we need the income we have, continues Davidsen. Outside research Professor Ragnar Torvik is worried that many young people do not work or study. He and the tax committee believe that it must pay more to work. – We have approx. 100,000 who are outside work, education or vocational training. After all, Norway is also the country in the OECD where the largest proportion of the population of working age is on health-related benefits. And it is especially among young people that that proportion increases a lot, he says. Torvik and the tax committee presented their report approximately a year ago. Few of the proposals have been followed up by the politicians.
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– Pensioners should pay more tax – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
