Norway has announced that it is looking into plans to reverse an earlier decision regarding crypto tax in the country. According to several sources from the country, the Norwegian government is finalizing plans to cancel the already existing unique tax benefits miners enjoy using cheap electricity. The government mentioned that conditions no longer allow them to serve the mining rigs as there are better places where those energies could be put to better use.
Norway wants all data centers to pay the general tax rate
The tax cut that miners in Norway have enjoyed existed for more than four years. The new update will see a cut in the special taxing rate that mining facilities enjoy across the country. Notably, most of the centers in the mining region are deep into mining digital assets. In a statement published by the government, the tax levied on mining firms will now be on par with the taxes the general public pays.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance, the country is in a precarious situation in terms of power. The statement also mentioned that there had been more pressure than ever on power across regions in the country, which has caused a spike in price. Similarly, there has been a massive rise in the mining industry across Norway. Therefore, the ministry confirmed that the government would suspend the reduced tax scheme.
Lawmakers reject PoW token ban
The statement from the government noted that it was hard to differentiate energy being used up by mining centers and other high-intensity industries. This means that if the government abolishes the reduced tax in one industry, it must do so across all heavy industries in the country. The government believes this move will add about $14 million to the country’s budget before the end of the year.
Aside from that, another $10 million could be added to the country’s budget by next year. This latest update is coming off the back of the failure of the government to abolish all digital assets based on the proof of work mining concept. PoW tokens is usually digital assets that require a lot of energy to carry out their activities, with Bitcoin a typical example. The move, previously considered, was pushed back by a section of the lawmakers in Norway. During the same period, the lawmakers rejected a proposed tax increase on electricity for crypto miners.
