His lawyer Kaare Andreas Shetelig tells E24 that an appeal has been submitted.
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In March, the Oslo district court ruled that hotel king Petter Stordalen must pay close to NOK 180 million to the state.
Then Stordalen’s lawyer Kaare Andreas Shetelig said that it would analyze the verdict and return to a possible appeal. The lawyer for the opposing party, the Swedish Tax Agency, Nils Sture Nilsson, also said they would consider an appeal.
On Monday afternoon, Shetelig told E24 that an appeal had been submitted.
The original demand from the Norwegian Tax Agency was around NOK 230 million. The claim is linked to Stordalen’s purchase of the company Oslo Properties in 2013. The company is now called Strawberry Fields.
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Stordalen has withdrawn almost NOK 800 million from Strawberry Fields without paying dividend tax. He believes he had a business motive, and that the purpose was not to take advantage of a favorable tax position. The tax authorities disagree.
Believes the appeal will be upheld
Shetelig says Stordalen believes that the part of the district court’s judgment where paid-in capital on the shares beyond what was retained in the company is cut off is wrong. That is why he chooses to appeal.
– Do you expect that the appeal will be upheld?
– Stordalen believes that with the correct assessment of the evidence and application of the law, the appeal will be upheld, says Shetelig.
– When do you expect a response to the appeal?
– It is expected that the district court will give the state a general deadline for filing a response to the appeal.
Stordalen thought it could withdraw around NOK three billion tax-free from Strawberry Fields because the previous owners had paid that amount in equity.
In principle, it should be possible to withdraw paid-in capital tax-free, but not if the purpose of the purchase of the company was to save tax.
Stordalen has already withdrawn NOK 800 million, and thought it was tax-free. Of this money, he was sentenced by the district court to pay close to NOK 180 million in tax.
If Stordalen had been fully approved, he would have been able to withdraw a total of NOK 3 billion tax-free. But the district court believed that there was a basis for cutting through and that he is therefore not allowed to do so. Stordalen disagrees with this and is therefore appealing.
E24 has been in contact with the Swedish Tax Agency’s lawyer, who had no comment at this time.
