The government of Norway released the revised Budget for 2018, which was approved by the Norwegian Cabinet on 15th May 2018. In the revised 2018 budget, the Government is proposing an increase of NOK 130 million in funding for the development programme to combat marine litter. This will nearly double the allocation to the programme, to NOK 280 million in 2018.
The important tax measures are summarized below.
- It is proposed to reduce the alcohol tax on beer with an alcohol from 3.7% to 4.7%, for a turnover of up to 200,000 liters of beer;
- Improved rules and guidance for the valuation and calculation of benefits in kind. The purpose of the changes is to make the rules easier and clearer. The changes will come into force in 2019;
- The Government proposes a simplified tax regime for foreign workers on temporary foreign employees working in Norway. With a fixed rate of 25% and no deductions, arrangements will provide simpler rules and contribute to more accurate taxation;
- The most important proposal concerns an extension of the exemption for electronic publications. It is proposed an expansion of the VAT exemption for electronic newspapers to all electronic publications;
- Norwegian companies currently have to submit a country-by-country (CbC) report if the ultimate parent’s jurisdiction has an agreement providing for the exchange of information, but not an agreement for the automatic exchange of CbC reports. However, according to the OECD’s CbC rules, it is sufficient that the country of residence of the parent company has a tax information exchange agreement (TIEA) with Norway in force.
