Norwegian wealth tax to diminish and inheritance tax to be re-introduced

19 December 2022

On 18 June 2021, a committee was established by the Solberg-Government in order to review the Norwegian tax system and propose changes going forward. On 8 December 2022 the mandate as well as the committee were amended by the Støre-Government. A new committee will review the proposals in more detail and the commenting deadline is 15 April, 2023.

While awaiting further facts, here are the key proposals published in today´s press conference at 10am local time:

  1. Inheritance tax to be re-introduced. Meaning a comeback for tax on gifts to successors.
  2. Wealth tax to be reduced to 0.5 on net wealth up to 20 MNOK and then 0.85. Furthermore, the basic deduction will increase. However, the current valuation discounts should be removed.
  3. All sales that are subject to VAT in Norway are proposed to be taxed at the same rate, 25 per cent
  4. Further increase of tax on natural resources, including fishing.
  5. Housing to become more heavily taxed. 1 per cent of the rental value to be regarded as capital income.
  6. The 2.5 per cent stamp duty on transfer of real estate to be reduced/ abolished.
  7. Wealth tax: The current discounts on base valuation should be removed.
  8. Salaries to be taxed less. Introducing a new deduction, a decrease of at least 1 percentage point is suggested.
  9. Corporate tax to be stable at 22% or increased.
  10. The current tax exemption method on income from shares is suggested to be maintained. However;
    a) the taxable income on dividends is suggested to increase from 3 to 5 per cent,
    b) the exit tax is suggested to become infinite (cf. the removal of the 5 years quarantine rule),
    c) the possibility of private use of the corporate assets should be stopped (cf. the already announced «Monster tax»)
    d) personal gains tax on the sale of shares is suggested to decrease (a 34 per cent rate is suggested)

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