My Norwegian libertarian friend Kristine Lowe has a personal interest in tattoos, and in their tax status, see above. (“Lowe” is Norwegian for “lion”, hence the nature of her magnificent adornment.) Thus alerted to any tattoo-related media item, she sent me the following report, based on a longer piece in the Norwegian Aftenposten:
Is a tattoo a creative work or simply a reproduction? This is a question Norwegian tax officers have to consider carefully when they come to implement last year’s VAT (Value Added Tax) reform. Tattoos, crosswords and fireworks may be exempted from VAT – as long as they have creative value.
The eight page long tax office guidelines document, Art, culture and sport – an orientation, says that creating an image for a tattoo is indeed a creative work. But to burn it into the skin of someone fooled into the tattoo shop by his mates is “only a reproduction of a creative work protected by copyright”. Hail to the Norwegian authorities’ profound respect for artistic and intellectual property rights.
A concert which is just a concert is also exempted from VAT. A concert venue where people can dance, on the other hand, is logically not. Ballet and traditional dances are exempted from VAT. Disco is not. One could be led to believe that only boring culture is exempted from VAT, but the rules are not that coherent. Stand-up comedians don’t have to pay VAT – but lecturers, presenters and commentators do.
At least we finally have an explanation for why it’s so difficult to get through to the tax office in Norway – they are busy reading crosswords, hanging out in tattoo shops, checking concert venues for dancing space and so on and so forth.
Kristine has also had trouble with her legs. Now me, I’ve never had trouble with Kristine’s legs – see below. But she had a bad accident several years ago, and the original doctors didn’t catch everything. So soon she’s off back to Norway to get everything finally fixed. I and the rest of the libertarian movement wish her all the best.
