Norwegian companies now have a deferred tax bill of NOK 4.59 billion. It shows recent figures Børsen has received from the Tax Administration.
The figures were last updated at the turn of the month August-September. It is also not possible to apply for a postponement anymore, as the application deadline expired this summer.
Big bill for the little ones
The original deferred amount was NOK 5.39 billion, so some have already paid their tax bill, but for many the bill still hangs like a black cloud over the company.
A total of 10736 companies and sole proprietorships have requested a deferral of either VAT or employer’s tax. It is VAT that makes up the majority of the bill, with 3.5 billion, while the state has 612 million outstanding in employer’s contribution.
Oslo Børs has also had the figures sorted by company size. The figures here show that companies with ten or fewer employees have an unpaid tax bill of NOK 1.2 billion, distributed among 4,804 players.
In other words, almost half of the companies with deferred tax bill have 10 employees or less.
Stunning permanent corona loss
– Terribly loud
The billion companies’ bill of billions frightens Jørund Rytman, head of policy and public relations at SMB Norway.
– I think it’s terribly loud I. With the background we now have, with what I have read in the media that now there is optimism in the business world and now it is going well – it does not quite agree with these figures, Rytman says to Børsen.
The system of deferral of taxes and fees is an extraordinary scheme in connection with the corona pandemic. Anyone who has received a deferral of payment can pay down the deferred amount over twelve installments in the period 31 October this year to 30 September next year.
The prerequisite for obtaining a postponement was that one was up to date with taxes and fees at the entrance to the pandemic.
The first installment on the bill is due on 31 October. It’s a scary date, Rytman thinks.
– I want to sound the alarm. This must be taken over by the current government and a new government. Then I hope you will be able to give a helping hand to these companies when the state budget is presented on October 12, says Rytman, who makes the following gloomy prediction:
– I fear a bankruptcy without equal. I do not recognize myself in the picture drawn by several politicians and economists, who say that things are going better now and that interest rates will increase. Many of those we represent are struggling.
Alerts tax bomb
– Forgive the bill!
The fact that the business community has been able to postpone the tax bill is, in the first instance, reflected in one thing: the bankruptcy figures. It is the Tax Administration that is the big driver here, which is filing for bankruptcy.
In the last normal year, ie 2019, the agency sent 2850 bankruptcy petitions in the first half of the year.
For 2020 and 2021, the figures are 1273 and 1258, respectively.
If we look at bankruptcy petitions from and including week 12 last year, which is the week when the corona pandemic really hit Norway, and into the year, and compare with the year before, the figures speak for themselves and show how inactive the Tax Administration has been on the bankruptcy front.
2019: 3554 bankruptcy petitions.
2020: 1431 bankruptcy petitions.
As the only player so far, SMB Norway has advocated that the state should remit all or part of the large tax bill, a proposal they are still advocating for.
– I think there is a better economy in it, instead of forcing companies to revolt and then they have to start up again. Then you get ripple effects for all creditors, says Rytman.
Waiting crisis: – Small incredible
– Class division in business
The other thing, on the other hand, has advocated is to do something about the default interest rate of 8 percent. NHO has also been out there and asked the government to intervene, and lower it to a lower level. Many people experience the high interest rate as very unreasonable at a time when they otherwise operate with almost zero interest rates.
So far, the government has not shown any signs that they want to do anything about interest rates.
– I have talked about inhaling and exhaling about the interest rate, and there are many companies that complain about it and point out how unreasonable it is. I think many politicians have noticed that a united Norwegian business community points to this, says Rytman.
The stock exchange talks to him the day before the three red-green parties, SV, Sp and Ap, are to meet for government polls in Hurdal. What will be the outcome of the exploratory round can of course not be advanced, but Rytman asks that the three parties think about the small and medium-sized companies when they are going to carve out the future.
– One thing is the government declaration, but it is also about what they reach in the state budget for 2022, although there is a limit to what they can do. I hope they understand that there is not so much optimism in all parts of the business community, says Rytman, before he uses a language that probably resonates on large parts of the left:
– There is a class divide in the business world as well. Several thousand small businesses fall through.
–
