NORWAY Law and Practice Contributed by: Harald Sætermo, LexOslo
Norway also has specific anti-avoidance or protec - tive rules in areas such as interest limitation, transfer pricing, controlled foreign companies, withholding tax, loss utilisation, reorganisations and dividend taxation. Tax treaties may also include limitation-on-benefits provisions or principal purpose tests. Taxpayers are subject to general disclosure obliga - tions, and the tax authorities may request information and documentation. Incorrect or incomplete reporting may result in additional tax, interest and administra- tive penalties. Serious cases involving intentional or grossly negligent tax evasion may result in criminal liability. For foreign investors, the practical point is that Nor - wegian structures should have commercial substance and be supported by contemporaneous documenta - tion, particularly in cross-border financing, holding, IP and reorganisation structures. 5.8 Tariffs Norway has a relatively liberal tariff regime. Most goods imported into Norway are duty-free, and cus - toms duties are now mainly imposed on agricultural products, clothing and certain other textile products. Customs duties are payable on importation into the Norwegian customs territory and are calculated by reference to the Norwegian Customs Tariff, which is adopted annually on the basis of Parliament’s cus - toms duty resolution. Preferential treatment may apply under the EEA Agreement, Norway’s free trade agree - ments, including agreements concluded together with the other EFTA States, and the Generalized System of Preferences for developing countries, provided that the relevant product coverage and origin requirements are satisfied. The most significant tariff protection applies to agricul - tural products that compete with Norwegian produc - tion, including meat, dairy products, grain and certain plants, vegetables and fruit. Agricultural tariff protec - tion is an important element of Norwegian agricultural policy. Agricultural imports may, however, benefit from tariff reductions, tariff quotas or preferential arrange - ments, and processed agricultural products may be subject to special rules.
Importers should verify tariff classification, origin, quo - ta availability and any applicable end-use or admin - istrative reduction requirements before import. Nor - way’s tariff regime is shaped by WTO commitments and free trade agreements. While Norway has not recently adopted broad-based tariff increases, global trade tensions and security-related trade measures may increase the practical importance of origin docu - mentation and supply-chain planning.
6. Competition Law 6.1 Merger Control Notification
Under the Norwegian Competition Act, mergers and acquisitions may constitute concentrations subject to merger control. A concentration must be notified to the Norwegian Competition Authority (NCA) if the undertakings con - cerned have combined annual turnover in Norway of NOK1 billion or more, and at least two of the undertak - ings concerned each have annual turnover in Norway of NOK100 million or more. The NCA may require notification of a concentration below the Norwegian thresholds if there are reason - able grounds to assume that competition may be affected, or if particular considerations indicate that the transaction should be examined more closely. Transactions below the thresholds may also be noti - fied voluntarily to clarify whether intervention may be relevant. Concentrations with an EEA dimension may be sub - A notifiable concentration is subject to a standstill obligation and must not be implemented before the Norwegian Competition Authority has received the notification and completed its review. The statutory review periods start to run only once the notification requirements have been satisfied, includ - ing requirements relating to confidential information. In Phase I, the NCA must, within 25 working days after receiving a complete notification, inform the parties ject to the EEA merger control rules. 6.2 Merger Control Procedure
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