Norway’s parliament is considering a proposed a new 40% tax on “rent” (surplus profit accruing from rising output prices) earned by large salmon aquaculture companies, coming on top of a 22% corporate tax and to be applied on large (4,000+ tonnes) sea-based operations, excluding smolt, primary and secondary processing. The new tax, if approved, would apply from the 2023 tax year onwards. The backers of the proposed tax see the surplus profits accruing to salmon producers as wealth from a “common natural resource” (the oceans) which provide a foundation for salmon production for which no rent is paid, hence the term “rent tax.” The proposed tax would bring society part of the productive value of its shared resource the industry uses “freely.” Similar taxes have been proposed for the fossil-fuel, wind-, and hydro-power industries.
There is opposition to the proposed tax among all of Norway’s large salmon operations. Already, many investment plans in expansion have been cancelled or put on hold by major producers, and the firms’ stock and bond values have been downgraded internationally by financial advisory companies. Producers are arguing to the government that the tax would hurt employment and the economic well-being of small coastal communities reliant on the salmon operations.
