Norwegians are among
the most heavily taxed people in the world, and that in turn has made
Norway one of the most expensive countries in which to live. Most
accept the taxes they're ordered to pay on income and even net worth
and property, but growing numbers are publicly complaining about
sky-high taxes on everything from cars to fuel to consumer goods.
Norwegians
differentiate between skatter (taxes) and avgifter
(duties, fees or user taxes) and the latter is the most hated. They're
what causes a glass of house wine at an Oslo restaurant to cost the
equivalent of nearly USD 16, or a gallon of gas to cost nearly USD 9
at current exchange rates.
"It's clear that
taxes are much too high in oil-rich Norway," Oslo resident Gro
Pettersen told newspaper Aftenposten. "It's sick!"
The taxes placed on
new cars, which can more than double the price of the car itself, are
another bone of contention, even though most Norwegians support
measures to protect the environment. "The car tax is much too
high, but so are most all the other avgifter also," said
Ernst Bendiksen of the northern city of Vadsų, where Norwegians are
far more dependent on their cars than those living in cities with good
public transit systems. "We certainly don't get anything in
return for them."
A study conducted by
research firm MMI for the Norwegian
Tax Payers Association (Skattebetalerforeningen) showed
that the most hated taxes are those on new cars and a transfer tax
levied when real estate changes hands. The so-called dokumentavgift
on real estate transactions, which implies that it's meant to cover
the costs of property registration, costs homebuyers around 2.5
percent of the purchase price.
Three of four
Norwegians believe that's too high, according to the MMI study, and
absolutely no one believed it was too low. With even a modest flat in
Oslo costing a few million kroner these days, the tax amounts to a
fair bit of change.
Regressive
inequality
The study also showed that 67 percent of the population think Norway's
inheritance taxes are too high, while 63 percent think fuel taxes are
too high. Norway's hefty 25 percent VAT (like a sales tax) on nearly
all consumer items is considered too high by 53 percent of the
population.
Only 32 percent,
meanwhile, believed tobacco taxes are too high, while 44 percent
believed liquor taxes are too high.
The user taxes, or avgifter,
are also unpopular because they're largely regressive taxes that hit
people with low incomes much harder than those with high incomes.
Filling the car's gas tank, and paying the taxes that requires, is
much more expensive for someone earning NOK 300,000 than it is for a
car owner earning NOK 900,000.
The head of the tax
payers' association, Jon Stordrange, said he thinks user taxes should
be adjusted to reflect actual costs inflicted on society. "Then I
think people would have more respect for the system," he said.
