Restaurants caught evading taxes

City officials in Oslo are threatening to withhold liquor licenses for cafés, bars and restaurants caught cheating on their taxes, after authorities uncovered accounting irregularities at more than half of all eating establishments that were audited last year. It’s suspected that most of the irregularities were an attempt to evade taxes, since they involved underreporting [...]

Butter shortage keeps spreading

State agriculture officials cut more regulatory fees on dairy products this week, in another effort to ease a butter shortage that continues to spread all over the country. Meanwhile, one specialty producer was offering butter at a Christmas market in Oslo on Tuesday, at a price that even shocked Norwegian shoppers. The “gift butter” wrapped [...]

Butter shortage frustrates bakers

Norway’s dairy cooperative Tine hasn’t been able to produce enough butter in recent weeks to meet demand, leaving grocery store shelves bare of one of their most basic items. Consumers are voicing their frustration, especially on the eve of the holiday baking season. “In this big grocery story, we can’t buy butter,” exclaimed one woman, [...]

No warm welcome for tax collectors

Norwegian specialists in tax collection can’t expect a warm welcome if and when they arrive in Greece as part of an EU-backed reform program. EU advisers are highly unpopular, with the Norwegians only marginally less unwelcome than the Germans, according to a Greek economics professor. “The Greeks feel that they’ll lose some of their independence,” [...]

The rich are getting richer, but income still evenly spread

New statistics suggest that the wealthiest Norwegians have secured their spots at the top of the income scale, not least because of bigger stock dividends paid out last year. Norway, however, continues to boast among the most equitably distributed overall personal income in the world. Statistics compiled by financial rating company AAA Soliditet for newspaper [...]

Study shows taxes not so high

Norway is often viewed as a high-cost and high-tax country, but a new study by accounting and consulting firm KPMG suggests otherwise. Norway wound up far down the list of countries when ranked by effective taxes and fees. Belgium topped the list, with an effective overall tax rate of 34.8 percent and social security fees [...]

Tycoon proud of his tax bill

Real estate tycoon Olav Thon has once again emerged as one of Norway’s wealthiest men and biggest taxpayers. Unlike many who work hard to avoid paying taxes, Thon posed for the front page of Norwegian business daily Dagens Næringsliv (DN) on Friday, when the country’s public tax lists were released, and made it clear he’s [...]

Tax lists released, with restrictions

Norwegian media could once again trumpet who ranks as Norway’s wealthiest persons according  to Norwegian tax lists released on Friday, which reveal the incomes and fortunes of most of the country’s population. The lists always set off a media frenzy, but there were some restrictions this year. Since the advent of the Internet, media websites [...]

Norway to aid Greek tax collectors

Beleaguered Greeks may soon have another force to reckon with: Norwegian tax collectors. With rampant tax evasion blamed for a major part of Greece’s astonishing debt, officials from both the European Union and the Greek government are reportedly calling on Norway for help. “We’re in dialogue with the EU Commission and Greece, to see whether [...]

Diesel debate in high gear

Government officials are considering a string of proposals to improve air quality by restricting automobile use, and one of them has sparked especially heated debate: Prohibiting use of diesel vehicles on days of heavy pollution. It was just four years ago that the left-center government still in power made diesel vehicles more attractive by altering [...]

Fortune tax stirs up new storm

Norwegian labour union boss Roar Flåthen is normally a great ally of Norway’s Labour-led government but now even he has spoken out against one of the country’s most unique and controversial taxes, on individual fortunes. The government is resisting Flåthen’s initiative, mostly for fear of losing the revenues it brings. Every year, in addition to [...]

Artist pleads ‘not guilty’ to tax evasion

Odd Nerdrum is one of Norway’s most internationally known contemporary artists but now he faces heavy fines and a prison term for alleged tax evasion. He’s had to appear in court in Oslo this week, where prosecutors suggested his financing has been as creative as his paintings. Nerdrum himself admitted in court on Tuesday that [...]

Boat tourists win major victory

The European Boating Association (EBA) and foreign boat tourists keen on making extended trips along the Norwegian coast have won a major victory over the government and local tax authorities. Foreign-owned boats will now be able to stay in Norwegian waters longer than just six weeks, and the boats can be laid up in Norway [...]

Norwegians’ most-hated taxes

Heavy taxes tied to their homes and their cars have emerged as the most hated by a majority of Norwegians, according to a new study by a national taxpayers’ organization (Norsk Skattebetalerforening). So intense is the criticism that even some of the country’s most socialist-oriented politicians are considering reform. Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) led its morning [...]

Tax refund season kicks off

The Norwegian tax authorities (Skatteetaten) will pay out NOK 22 billion (USD 4 billion) to the 2.2 million taxpayers who have earned refunds this year, meaning that an average of NOK 9,900 (USD 1,800) is currently being deposited into bank accounts across Norway. Another 200,000 Norwegians will have to wait several months for their tax [...]

Next Page »