Over the past couple of weeks, several salmon billionaires, led by Lerøy’s principal owner Helge Møgster, have come out against the proposal for a resource rent tax proposal for salmon farming in Norway. Now they have got answers from the country’s Labor Party – who are trying pushing it through.
Last week, Helge Møgster did not hold back when he attacked the proposed salmon tax.
“We have lived in a war zone since Erna (ed. Erna Solberg, Norway’s Prime Minister) came to power,” Møgster told Dagens Næringsliv.
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“If salmon tax is introduced, all investments in Norwegian salmon farming will stop immediately. Then you will look for other areas to invest in. Then you will put down Norwegian fish farming,” said the billionaire who also drew parallels to Stalin’s agricultural policy.
Now Møgster has got a response from the Labor Party.
“The first reaction from the salmon billionaires is not very charming,” the party’s fisheries policy spokesman Cecilie Myrseth told E24.
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The Labor Party is skeptical of the majority’s conclusion, but they will now spend a good deal of time looking into the sample report and looking at various solutions.
“If you just put the proposal in a drawer now, I’m pretty sure different governments of different colors will bring this up again, especially when you know that oil and gas revenues are going down and government spending is increasing,” Myrseth told E24. “If you want more growth, you have to realise that you have to give more back to society”.
The fight for a special salmon tax is not over.
Perhaps one will notice it already after the election in 2021, when the parliamentary balance may be significantly changed.
The proposal presented outlines a total tax burden of 62 per cent for farmed salmon – including ordinary corporate taxation.
