Solberg Goes Against Conservative Majority: Won’t Eliminate All Estate Tax



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The National Meeting of Conservatives decided earlier this fall to remove all estate tax. The original proposal to eliminate the estate tax for working capital was superseded by a proposal from Vestland Høyre.

However, this cannot be done, Prime Minister and Conservative leader Erna Solberg tells Aftenposten. TV 2 reports that the party’s central board decided on Tuesday night to ignore the national assembly’s decision.

– It is the management of the program that is holistic, that weighs things against each other and that helps to prioritize. So I think it’s important for you to be honest and say: in the next period, and probably not in the period after, we will not eliminate all the estate tax. That’s my clear message, Solberg tells Aftenposten.

The notice in the internal email

Solberg denies that with this statement he is reversing a conservative decision legally taken.

– No, I feel that what I say now is in line with much of what is the basis in the Conservative Party of why we focus on the estate tax. It is working and business capital.

TV 2 has obtained access to an email sent by Solberg to the delegates of the party’s national assembly. There, the party leader explains why she and the central board oppose the decision of the annual meeting, a decision that they themselves voted against.

– It is important that we are honest and realistic with the promises and objectives. Contributes to the credibility of all political promises. We also have tax restrictions. In the long term, our goal is still to reduce wealth tax, Solberg writes according to TV 2 in the email.

Young conservatives respond

Amalie Gunnufsen, who has been nominated as the new leader of the Young Conservatives, thinks it’s a strange message that occurs to Solberg.

– It’s a bit strange that the party leadership wants to downplay what the Conservative Party’s policy has been for years. There is strong support in the Conservative Party that Norwegian business owners shouldn’t lose to foreign owners, Gunnufsen tells TV 2.

The decision of the national meeting of the Conservative Party in September provoked strong reactions in the opposition.

– It is extremely irresponsible now to go to the polls to lower taxes for the richest, MP Eigil Knutsen (Labor) told NTB.

Figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that the wealth tax in total amounted to almost NOK 15 billion in 2018.

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