The Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs recommended that parliament reject a private member's bill from seven MPs seeking to remove the deduction right in petroleum tax for marketing and lobbying expenses. The committee majority, comprising Labour, Progress, Conservative, Centre and Christian Democratic parties, argues that oil companies' deduction rights follow the same rules as other firms, that the deduction does not constitute a subsidy, and that petroleum tax should be predictable. The minority tabled several competing proposals: the Socialist Left, Red and Green parties jointly backed four proposals for stricter limits, clearer deduction criteria and greater transparency on marketing costs, while the Socialist Left and Green parties separately proposed eliminating deductions for reputation management, marketing and lobbying altogether. The Green Party also tabled a standalone proposal to deny deductions for membership fees in political advocacy organisations. The Liberal Party supported only the proposal for stricter limits on intercompany service allocations.
AI-generated summary · Model: Claude Haiku 4.5 · Generated: 14 May 2026
These are the proposals in the document, not decisions. See the votes for the outcome.
Parliament asks the government to propose stricter limits on which costs from intercompany services and shared functions can be allocated to shelf-taxed operations.
Parliament asks the government to present a proposal clarifying that only costs directly tied to extraction activity on the Norwegian shelf shall be deductible in the separate tax base.
Parliament asks the government to propose denying deductions for expenses tied to campaigns, events or other measures aimed primarily at influencing public debate or government policy.
Parliament asks the government to study requiring companies subject to petroleum tax to specify costs related to marketing, advocacy and membership in advocacy organisations in their tax authority reporting.
Parliament asks the government to return to parliament with a proposal to eliminate the deduction right in petroleum tax for expenses tied to reputation management, marketing, membership in advocacy organisations and lobbying.
Parliament asks the government to propose that membership fees to industry and advocacy organisations engaged in political influence shall not be deductible in petroleum tax.
Document 8:163 S (2025–2026) – Private member's bill from MPs Frøya Skjold Sjursæther, Julie E. Stuestøl, Ingrid Liland, Siren Julianne Jensen, Marius Langballe Dalin, Oda Indgaard and Une Bastholm to halt subsidies for oil companies' marketing and lobbying expenses – is rejected.