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MOVEMENTS: Bjørn Dæhlie during cross-country training in Sjusjøen in February 2019. Photo: Fredrik Hagen / NTB
The businessman and former cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie (53) admits that the purchase of the house in Bø in Vesterålen is partly due to the fact that the municipality has cut the estate tax.
– Yes, we reported the relocation due to the municipality’s attitude towards wealth tax, writes Bjørn Dæhlie in a statement sent to VG.
It emerged on Monday that the former ski king bought a house on Bø in Vesterålen in Nordland. The conservative-controlled municipality has been dubbed “Monaco of Norway” as a result of the wealth tax cuts effective from January 2021.
– For us, this will be a one-year pilot project, if it is possible to live in Bø and travel to eastern Norway, explains Dæhlie, noting that if the trip doesn’t work out, they will have “a super holiday home in a magical landscape” .
Earlier this month, Finansavisen wrote that Dæhlie’s tax assets for 2019 were DKK 415 million.
According to his own statement, Dæhlie collected NOK 6-8 million annually from the company to pay the wealth tax levied on the investment firm Sisa Invest, named after his two sons Sivert and Sander.
– The tax is paid privately, so the amount is taxed several times, first at the company, as dividends, before paying the wealth tax. For a company like Sisa Invest AS, this is demanding, because the wealth tax is paid regardless of the results of the company. Privately, I do not have the funds to pay the estate tax, so I am dependent on losing the company with amounts that often correspond to the company’s profits, writes the 53-year-old from Nannestad in Upper Romerike.
– Over the years, both privately and through my companies, I have paid significant sums in taxes, which is completely correct: when you earn money, you must contribute to the community according to your ability. I will continue to pay large sums of taxes, I support our Norwegian welfare society and I am a supporter of the Norwegian tax system, which I believe is good and fair. With one big exception: Norway’s excise tax on wealth, declares the former cross-country skier with eight Olympic gold medals in his sporting career.
Life after he put his skis on the shelf has also brought triumphs to Dæhlie, who, among other things, has benefited from, among other things, his own sportswear and property. According to Dæhlie’s statement, Bø and its surroundings will benefit from the arrival of the ancient ski king to the north.
– My intention is to use what I save in taxes in more profitable investments in the region or locally in Bø. “I have previously successfully invested in the neighboring municipality of Lofoten and I want to see how I can enjoy the investments together with, among others, Kristian Adolfsen and other investors,” he says.
VG updates the case!
