Hotel mogul battles €16M tax assessment

Hotel investor Petter Stordalen appeared on Tuesday at the Borgarting Court of Appeal in a case against the Tax Administration regarding a tax claim of 184 million kroner, several media outlets report.

The case concerns a dividend of €69 million that Stordalen withdrew from the company Oslo Properties, later renamed Strawberry Fields. He acquired the company in 2013, after the previous owners had injected around €260 million in equity.

Typically, paid-in capital can be withdrawn tax-free, but not if the purpose of the acquisition is to avoid tax. The Tax Authority believes that was the intention behind the acquisition and initially demanded €20 million in tax. Following the district court ruling, the claim was reduced to €16 million.

The district court found the acquisition to be “almost exclusively tax-motivated.” Both parties have appealed, and the Court of Appeal proceedings are scheduled for seven days.

On his way into court, Stordalen said he believes the rules have been misinterpreted, and that he has followed legislation that has remained unchanged for a hundred years.