Norway
A. Progress in the implementation of the minimum standard
Norway has 84 tax agreements in force, as reported in its response to the Peer Review questionnaire, including the multilateral Nordic Convention concluded with Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Iceland and Sweden (the “Nordic Convention”).1 Fifteen of those agreements, the agreements with Australia, Estonia, Georgia, India, Ireland, Japan, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Serbia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom as well as the Nordic Convention, comply with the minimum standard.
Norway signed the MLI in 2017 and deposited its instrument of ratification on the 17 July 2019. The MLI entered into force for Norway on 1 November 2019. Norway has not listed its agreements with Albania, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Egypt, France, Germany, Greenland, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Ukraine, Viet Nam and Zambia. These agreements will therefore not, at this stage, be modified by the MLI. Albania, Barbados, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Egypt, France, Hungary, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Korea, Malaysia, Morocco, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Senegal, Singapore, the Slovak Republic, Tunisia and Ukraine have listed their agreements with Norway under the MLI.
Norway indicated in its response to the Peer Review questionnaire that bilateral negotiations would be used with respect to its agreements with Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Thailand, and Tunisia.
The Parties to the Nordic Convention signed a complying instrument in 2018. The protocol entered into force on 28 November 2019 and its provisions took effect which became effective as of 1 January 2020.
Norway is implementing the minimum standard through the inclusion of the preamble statement and the PPT.2
The agreements modified by the MLI come into compliance with the minimum standard once the provisions of the MLI take effect.
B. Implementation issues
As mentioned above, Norway has not listed its agreements with Albania, Barbados, Benin, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Curaçao, Egypt, Greenland, Hungary, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Qatar, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, Viet Nam and Zambia under the MLI. Listing the agreements under the MLI or entering into bilateral renegotiations to implement the minimum standard would ensure that the minimum standard could be implemented in those non-covered agreements.
Notes
← 1. See the Multilateral convention concluded by Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Norway and Sweden: for the avoidance of double taxation with respect to taxes on income and on capital (1996, 1997, 2008 and 2018). In total, Norway identified 88 "agreements" in its List of Tax agreements: 83 bilateral agreements and the Nordic Convention concluded with five of its treaty partners.
← 2. For its agreements listed under the MLI, Norway is implementing the preamble statement (Article 6 of the MLI) and the PPT (Article 7 of the MLI). Norway stated that while it accepts the application of the PPT under the MLI, it intends where possible to adopt an LOB provision through bilateral negotiation. Norway has also accepted to implement a simplified LOB in agreements concluded with partners that opted in for the simplified LOB under Article 7(7)(a) of the MLI.