Pending enactment of new rules offering better protection for taxpayers who dispute tax or duty claims, the Finance Ministry has decided to stop the obligation to pay penalty tax and duty relating to disputed claims.
Under current law tax and excise duty claims, including penalty taxes and penalty charges, must be paid when due even if the taxpayer files a complaint against the decision or disputes the decision before the courts. On 11 December 2015 the Finance Ministry submitted a bill on a new Tax Administration Act (Prop. 38 L (2015-2016)) to the Norwegian Parliament. In the bill the Ministry proposes that the tax authorities shall delay the collection of penalty tax and penalty excise duty until the time limit for filing a complaint has expired or a potential lawsuit has been ended.
The proposal is based on the grounds that decisions on such administrative sanctions may be a radical character and that the rule of law should be strengthened for taxpayers in this type of cases.
Since the new Tax Administration Act will not come into force before 1 January 2017 at the earliest, Finance Minister Siv Jensen has instructed the tax authorities to change their practice with immediate effect from 11 December. Nor will such tax or excise duty claims be subject to interest claims pursuant to the Overdue Payments Interest Act (p.t. 9 % p.a.), as has been the case so far, but merely a 2.25 % interest rate until the complaint or lawsuit has been settled.
