One in four pay surtax

In 1995, 850,000 persons aged 17 and older - 24 per cent of Norway's adult population that year - had a personal income in excess of the tax-free allowance used to calculate the surtax on higher incomes. The combined surtax, before deductions and depreciation, totalled just under NOK 10 billion in 1995. Since its introduction in 1988, the number of persons affected by the surtax has increased by more than 40 per cent.

In 1988, 576,000 persons had incomes that were so high that they had to pay surtax. The combined surtax totalled about NOK 2.6 billion this year.

As part of the 1992 tax reform, the progressive state tax on net income was done away with and replaced by progressive taxation of combined personal incomes. In addition, the tax-free allowances were reduced in all tax brackets, causing a strong increase in the number of persons subject to surtax. From 1991 to 1992 there was an increase of 139,000 persons who had a personal income in excess of the tax-free allowance.

Since the reform, the tax-free allowances have been adjusted upwards every year. In 1992, the allowances were NOK 200,000 and 242,000 in tax class one and two, respectively. In 1995, these limits were increased to NOK 212,000 and 257,000, respectively. Nevertheless, the number of people who had to pay surtax in 1995 increased by 103,000 compared to 1992.

New Statistics

Tax Statistics, 1995. Income and property distribution for women and men.
Statistics are published annually in the Weekly Bulletin of Statistics. Local government-level statistics will be published in the Official Statistics of Norway (NOS) Regional Statistics no. 3/97. More information: Mads Ivar Kirkeberg, tel. +47 62 88 52 45, e-mail: mik@ssb.no or Jon Epland, tel. +47 62 88 52 37, e-mail: jep@ssb.no.

Weekly Bulletin issue no. 11, 1997