Norway government lowers fish farm tax proposal to 35% (updated)

SalMar ASA

28/03/2023 07:13

(Adds quotes, background)
       OSLO, March 28 (Reuters) - Norway's government said on
Tuesday it aims to levy a 35% resource tax on the profits of
salmon and trout farmers, down from an initial proposal of 40%
that sharply hit fish farming stock prices when first announced
last year.
    Aquaculture licences awarded by the state give companies a
chance to profit from public resources, and governments on both
the left and right have considered imposing extra taxes on the
fish farming industry in recent years.
        Norway's centre-left Labour-led government must now
negotiate a final deal in parliament before a tax takes effect,
but it is already clear that there is a majority in favour of
taxing the industry more heavily.
  
        "We have a long tradition in Norway in which value that
is created from using our common natural resources shall benefit
society as a whole," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said in a
statement.
  
        "It is now the time to introduce a resource rent tax for
the aquaculture industry."
  

 (Reporting by Terje Solsvik)
 ((terje.solsvik@thomsonreuters.com; +47 918 666 70))