MDG deputy leader Arild Hermstad says the Government’s proposal for a new tax system for the oil industry is a small step in that direction, but that there is total confusion about the practical consequences.
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At short notice, and just before the election campaign’s second televised party leader debate (on TV 2), the government announced on Tuesday night a reorganization of the tax system for the oil and gas industry.
According to the government, the change will mean the end for the tax system itself to encourage new investments in oil and gas. The goal is a “tighter and more neutral” oil tax. The government will change to a cash flow tax. This means that the investments are expensed immediately instead of over six years. The total tax rate remains at 78 percent, as it is today.
The proposal is going for consultation, but the consultation note was not ready when the proposal was presented.
– A mouse step
– This is a mouse step forward, but will have little significance for what is at stake, says MDG deputy chairman Arild Hermstad.
– The government has announced something that will be an improvement, but we have no idea how important it is or how comprehensive it is. This can have effects in both directions. There is total confusion about the practical consequences, says Hermstad.
– But what does the MDGs do if the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party were to say no to the government’s new package? You can not overthrow today’s blue-green government then, can you?
– We prefer no government that does not say no to more exploration. And this presentation has not clarified whether the blue side is more likely to do so, than the red side, says Hermstad.
– We believe there is a greater chance of stopping exploration for more oil and gas with Støre than with Solberg. There are also a number of other climate requirements that we consider to be easier to get through with Støre as Prime Minister.
– We are at the mercy of interpreting Sanner
MDGS deputy leader Arild Hermstad thinks it is startling that the government in the final phase of the election campaign says it will change the tax system for the oil industry, but without saying how. The MDGs still prefer a red-green government after the election.
–– This is a mouse step forward, but has little significance for what is at stake, he says.
– The government has announced something that will be an improvement, but we have no idea how important it is or how comprehensive it is. This can have effects in both directions. There is total confusion about the practical consequences, says Hermstad.
He says the Conservatives present this as a way to further develop the oil and gas industry, while the Liberal Party sells this in as an environmental winner.
– And there is no consultation note. We are at the mercy of interpreting Minister of Finance Jan Tore Sanner and the election campaign posters of the Liberal Party. This is sensational, says Hermstad.
He believes the government is doing this because it needs to “get involved in what has become the most important election debate”.
– But the proposal does not respond to the call from the UN Secretary-General to stop looking for more oil and gas. Perhaps the new tax system will make it somewhat less attractive. But we have no idea. So they miss that debate too. This will be very on the side.
– To make the Liberal Party relevant
He believes this can not be anything other than a media rig to make the Liberal Party more relevant in the election campaign.
– This appears to be a good media rig. Five minutes after the press conference, the Liberal Party presented its finished posters on Facebook where they trumpet that they are cutting subsidies for oil exploration, he says.
Støre keeps the door ajar
Labor leader Jonas Gahr Støre keeps the door open for the government’s surprising proposal for a restructuring of the oil tax.
– My answer is that we are open to assess it. But we will now familiarize ourselves with what they have presented, Støre says to NTB.
– These are questions that affect activity, jobs, climate, many conditions. So we will take a position on this when we have studied it.
SP leader Trygve Slagsvold Vedum reacts to the way the government presented the tax package.
– The oil and gas industry is Norway’s heaviest private industry. The fact that such a proposal comes a week before an election, without there being any consultation document, is a bit unorthodox, Vedum tells NTB.
The SP leader emphasizes that no one has seen the entire proposal yet, as the actual consultation document will not come until next week.
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