AP will remove the VAT exemption on ecommerce

Photo : Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB scanpix

The Labour party is proposing to remove the VAT exemption on ecommerce for less than 350 million.

The goal is to increase government revenue and protect Norwegian jobs.
The retail industry salutes the proposal to eliminate the current free allowance limit, states the newspaper Dagens Næringsliv.
– VAT exemption is raw consumer populism and a cuckoo in the nest in the Norwegian tax system, says director Harald Andersen in the retailers’ federation.
Most items that people buy on-line that are less than 350 million are tax-free, and it is this exemption Labour advocates removing in their alternative budget.
– The retail industry is important and represents thousands of jobs in Norway.
Our proposal will help to secure Norwegian jobs and in addition removing ever increasing tax losses, says Labour’s finance spokesperson Marianne Marthinsen.
The party expects that the amendment will give the state an additional income of NOK 933 million. Real mean amount will be two to three times as large.
Norwegian trade and Norwegian online stores have long raged against these rules because they are required to pay VAT while companies abroad escape.
Actual estimates show that Norwegian commerce abroad was around 9.5 billion last year.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today