The tax authorities in Lithuania are investigating whether the Norwegian Insurance Office had received incorrect tax deductions in connection to language training by the custodians.
Temps receive Norwegian language education at the company’s own language school in Lithuania before traveling. They don’t receive a salary, but a scholarship if they are on the course, wrote Aftenposten newspaper.
The company’s previous practice was that the temps were then deducted 2.35 euros per working hour to repay the Orange advance as a student loan. After 1,850 hours, or approximately 40,000 kroner in salary, the course was repaid.
Between 2013 and 2015, the company had expenses of NOK 22 million for language training, and it is this bookkeeping that the Lithuanian tax authorities now have to check further.
‘If the company reduces the cost of language training through deductions to employee wages, these costs can not then also provide tax deductions for the company,’ said Eglè Ramanauskienè, director of the Lithuanian tax office, to Aftenposten newspaper, and the Lithuanian online newspaper, ’15 min’. Lithuanians
said they had received tax information from other countries, but didn’t want to say if Norway is one of them.
The management at Orange have not answered questions about how much of the cost is covered through the payroll deductions. Today, the refund scheme has changed. The Orange costs are not deducted directly from the language education payroll, but instead, they enter into an agreement with the language school for repayment.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
