Tax relief for Norwegian coastal cruise liners

The Government will allow the Hurtigruten Group to adopt a so-called "net pay" salary system from next July, according to the Industry Minister .This means that the Group will have to pay less tax for its employees than up to now, and will mean a tax relief worth NOK 100 million a year for the popular coastal cruise liners, NRK reports. This will give the Norwegian liners equal conditions with foreign competitors. Hurtigruten has up to now had wage bills twice that of competitors. This has led to major deficits for the Hurtigruten Group over the past years. Last year's deficit totalled more than NOK 200 million.