Claim for damages for allegedly illegal electricity tax
Supreme Court judgment 1 October 2021, HR-2021-1933-A, (case no. 20-146493SIV-HRET), civil case, appeal against judgment.
The State represented by the Ministry of Finance (The Office of the Attorney General represented by Henriette Lund Busch)
v. Gasum AS (Counsel Bjørn Christian Lilletvedt Tovsen)
Justices: Matheson, Noer, Bull, Falch, Thyness
A company in charge of transformation of dry gas, received through pipelines from the landing facility in Kårstø, to liquefied gas, used considerable amounts of electricity for its operation. During the period concerned, the company had paid ordinary electricity tax on the purchased power. The Supreme Court found that the company was not entitled to reduced electricity tax, and that the claim against the State for incorrect taxation could not succeed. It was correct that the activity, which was a so-called downstream activity, was categorised in Norwegian statistics regulations as a service related to transport, which did not give basis for a reduced fee under section 3-12-4 of the Excise Duty Regulations. This categorisation was also in accordance with international standards. The company did also not succeed in its claim for reduced electricity tax in accordance with EEA law principles on equal treatment when it comes to state aid. There were also factual differences between the company's activity and other activities referred to by the company, which justified the inequality.