The workers who upgraded the dock at the country residence of Arbeiderpartiet (Ap) leader, Jonas Gahr Støre, in 2011, did the work without paying either tax or VAT.
Støre told Finansavisen newspaper that it was his caretaker at the cabin, in Kilsund in Arendal, Olaf Halvorsen, who was his contract partner, and that everything was agreed between them, with invoices and tax and VAT included.
‘I have paid for a contracted company at an agreed price, with an invoice and VAT paid to Olaf Halvorsen,’ Støre wrote in an email, which Ap’s secretary general at parliament, Hans Kristian Amundsen, had forwarded to Finansavisen.
‘How he organized the work done was his responsibility,’ said the Ap-leader.
According to Finansavisen, Halvorsen didn’t complete the work alone. The caretaker employed two workers, and everything was completed as a buddy service, without tax and VAT being paid.
Støre says he didn’t receive any information about tax payments, or VAT, and said he had no reason to assume that he needed to follow-up further.
Halvorsen said he didn’t realize that exchange of professional services was taxable and subject to VAT.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today