– Now the Conservative Party cannot just sit back and make promises. They must also make it clear how they will implement the promises they make to the voters, says Center Party’s parliamentary leader, Marit Arnstad, to NTB.
Together with her colleague Rigmor Aasrud in the Labor Party, she expects the Conservative Party to present a clear tax plan in its alternative budget this autumn.
– The FRP wants to remove the entire wealth tax. The Conservative Party wants to remove it on shares and operating assets, but it is still NOK 21 billion. We expect a plan for how they will do it, says Arnstad.
– If the voters are to have confidence in what the Conservative Party is now promising on the wealth tax, then they should prove it, she says.
– Has a history
Aasrud points out that the government has put its cards on the table in the state budgets in recent years, and through their tax pledge. Now she believes it is the Right’s turn.
– This is extremely important. It is, after all, a central part of the political discourse now. The right-wing party is very hard on taxes, but doesn’t have much to show for it, says Aasrud.
She points out that the Conservative Party has a history in the field.
– When they themselves were in government, they said they would remove the wealth tax, but chose not to do so. When they now repeat the same promise, and make it one of their most important election campaign promises, they must also make it visible in actual politics how they will implement it, says Aasrud.
– Now they have the opportunity
Arnstad believes that Høyre has a fringe reputation in the field.
– Now they have to prove that this is not just rhetoric this time, but that they actually have a plan, she says.
The plan believes they should be included in the Conservative Party’s alternative state budget for 2025, which will come in the autumn. It should preferably show a comprehensive plan for the entire next parliamentary term, they believe.
– Now they have the opportunity, says Arnstad.
Own tax promises
In the draft of the new party program for the next period, the Labor Party promises to keep the overall tax and levy level at the current level. The Center Party also promises to cut property tax for local owners of small and medium-sized businesses.
In the current period, the government increased taxes on business, including through the salmon tax. In addition, they introduced a temporary high-price subsidy for power and increased employer’s tax, which will now be removed.
Will the Labor Party and the Center Party’s promises be fulfilled for the next term?
– It will also be tough. But at least we can’t start cutting one of the most redistributive taxes, which is wealth tax, says Aasrud.
Arnstad believes that the most important thing is the overall levy and tax level.
– The right-wing has a tendency to say that they want to reduce taxes, but then they increase taxes, she says.
Right: – Couldn’t remove it completely
The right-wing deputy leader and spokesperson for fiscal policy, Tina Bru, responds as follows to the demands from Ap and Sp to lay the cards on the table:
– Labor guarantees a long-lasting high level of taxes, SP believes everything at once, while SV, Rødt and MDG will increase taxes sharply. The alternatives are quite clear: increased taxes with the left, or lower taxes and predictability with the Conservatives, she says.
The Conservative Party has not yet decided when they will present their alternative budget this autumn. But Bru makes it clear that they want to remove the wealth tax on working capital, because they believe it weakens Norwegian owners in competition with foreign owners who do not have to pay the tax.
She admits that the Conservatives did not get as much cut as they wanted when they were in government, but thinks it looks different now.
– When the Conservative Party last ruled, we halved the wealth tax on working capital. Unfortunately, we were unable to remove it completely, but now the situation is different because all four bourgeois parties point to the wealth tax on working capital as important to get rid of. Then we will manage it, she says.
#demand #tax #proof #Conservative #Party #cut
