Leader of the Church’s Emergency Aid, Dagfinn Høybråten, refers to the oil tax package that was implemented from 2020 as a colossal waste of public resources. Archive photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB
Of NTB | 06.05.2024 17:54:41
Weather: – In retrospect, it appears to be a serious waste of public resources, says general secretary Dagfinn Høybråten in the Church’s Emergency Service to NRK.
When the price of oil plummeted in the spring of 2020, it was decided that the oil industry would receive tax relief in order to keep the wheels turning. The deadline for getting projects under the temporary tax package was at the end of 2022.
Commissioned by the Norwegian Church Aid, the consulting company Vista Analyze has made a calculation of how high the price tag was for taxpayers. According to NRK, the report concludes that the total revenue loss is NOK 68 billion.
The 68 billion is money the oil companies have received in tax cuts to make new investments under a particularly favorable tax regime. Erna Solberg (H), who was prime minister when the crisis package was introduced, has previously acknowledged this NRK that the pack stimulated too hard.
Climate and Environment Minister Andreas Bjelland-Eriksen (Ap) points out that the tax package was implemented in a very uncertain time for the oil industry.
– It is not a waste to ensure that we have activity – that we avoid redundancies. But there is no doubt that one should be very careful about making temporary changes to the framework conditions for an industry, says the Environment Minister to NRK.
(© NTB)