Dagsavisen has told about Ann-Mari Lofthus having a 440 kilometer journey round trip to work, but on this year’s tax settlement She did not receive a penny in deduction for commuter accommodation.
This is because the government decided in 2018 that you will no longer be entitled to commuter allowance if you have lived and worked in the same place for more than 24 months.
– That it was done at the stroke of a pen feels very unfair. It amazes me that it was so easy to do, says Lofthus, who is a postdoctoral fellow at Innlandet University College in Elverum and lives in Kongsberg.
At the same time, the politicians themselves can have their commuting allowances indefinitely.
– I have a certain understanding of that. At the same time, I can sense the contempt that comes up, when they can decide that a person who is a stable workforce should be punished because they want to continue with the employer for longer than two years.
Tax attorney and head of the Taxpayers’ Association, Rolf Lothe, also reacts to the fact that there are such large differences.
– We think it is unfortunate that “ordinary people” do not have the right to deduct commuting costs when they have been commuting for 24 months. The expenses are still the same, says Lothe.
These are the differences
Lothe has familiarized herself with the rules that apply to Storting politicians and other ordinary employees. He can tell that there are quite a few differences.
Together with Lothe, we have created this overview:
- Storting representatives can live with their family in their commuter home in Oslo, and still be considered commuters (as long as they also have a home at home). “Ordinary people” will not be considered commuters, if they live with their family in commuter accommodation (even if they have accommodation at home). Storting representatives are considered commuters in such a situation because they must be considered resident at their place of residence, as long as they dispose of a home there.
- A single representative of the Storting is considered a commuter even if she or he has predominantly 24-hour rest in the commuter accommodation (stays more nights in the commuter accommodation than in the accommodation at home). “Ordinary people” will not normally be considered commuters in such a case, if the commuter home is more than 30 square metres. Storting representatives are considered commuters in such a situation because they must be considered resident at their place of residence, as long as they dispose of a home there.
- Storting representatives can get free (and tax-free) commuter accommodation if they live more than 40 kilometers from the Storting (workplace). “Ordinary people” will normally have to have a longer commuting distance before they are considered commuters.
- For “ordinary people”, there are requirements for home journeys of a certain frequency to be considered commuters. Such demands are not placed on representatives of the Storting, even though the vast majority are probably in practice relatively often in their home county.
- For representatives of the Storting who, due to their position, must live outside their home, all journeys home/visits to their home shall be considered professional journeys. For “ordinary people”, these are visiting trips, which means that the employer’s cover and the right to deduct are different (slightly worse).
The tax attorney says he is unsure why there are such large differences.
– I’m not entirely sure about this, but it may have to do with the fact that representatives of the Storting represent their home county, and that you have thus wanted to make it financially easier to keep a home there, even if you have to live in Oslo due to the work of the Storting . And for the record: Parliamentary representatives do not pay for the commuter accommodation, so for them it is not a question of deduction, but of tax exemption for the commuter accommodation.
– What do you think about the fact that there are differences. Is it fair or understandable in some way?
– We understand that the rules allow for parliamentary representatives to dispose of a commuter home tax-free, when it is impractical to live at home due to the travel distance, he believes.
– Perhaps the rules are a little too rigid for “ordinary people”, where the travel distance probably often has to be up to about 10 miles for one to be considered a commuter – somewhat dependent on, among other things, travel time and working conditions.
Blame it on the previous government
Dagsavisen has repeatedly tried to get answers from the Ministry of Finance in relation to the changes in the commuter rules, and how it affects both district policy and the everyday life of employees with long journeys to work.
—
We asked these questions:
– What assessments have been made in relation to looking at how this provision affects employees and their families? Now, my source does not have children living at home, but a large part of the workforce does.
– The source says that she feels forced by the Storting / Government to move or quit her job. Comment on this?
– What assessments have been made in relation to how the provision affects employers – who are experiencing problems in relation to filling positions in rural areas
– What assessments have been made in relation to how the provision affects workplaces in the district, which will experience constant changes in the working environment?
– The source believes the 24-month rule affects work opportunities in the district for both employee and employer, and is perceived as hostile to the district. Comment on this?
We did not get answers to these questions. In our second attempt, we asked:
– There are quite big differences in the rules for what you get covered and what you don’t, whether you are a politician or “ordinary people”. Why that?
– Also want an answer to why it is the case that, while ordinary commuters must be expected to move to their workplace after 24 months in the same position, Storting politicians can keep their commuting allowances indefinitely?
– In a letter to my source, the ministry writes that if you have been in the same job for 24 months, the employment relationship is considered so permanent that you should move closer to the workplace. Why should ordinary people who commute have to move their families with them, children change schools and cohabitants or spouses become new commuters to their jobs if it is closer to their original place of residence – or quit their job after 24 months – while political commuters can live with their families in commuter accommodation?
—
State Secretary in the Ministry of Finance Skjalg Fjellheim (Sp) comments in an e-mail to Dagsavisen that it was the Solberg government that proposed that the commuter allowance should be time-limited to 24 months in the state budget for 2018.
– Inquiries about why the then government proposed a tightening of the commuter rules must be addressed to the FRP in Parliament, he writes.
– This government has been keen to make it more profitable for working people who commute to work. Through several budgets, we have provided relief for working people who commute, whether by car, plane or ferry. In the 2025 budget, we have proposed further relief in the travel deduction, as well as for commuters who live in barracks.
– Do you want to continue the 24-month rule or work to have it removed?
– Any further relief in the commuter deduction must be returned to by the government in the tax and duty system in the budget proposal for 2026, he writes.
Read also: Calculate pension? Don’t fall into this trap, warns expert (+)
Leads to contempt for politicians
Ann-Mari Lofthus is not impressed by the response from the Ministry of Finance.
– Very few commuters live in barracks. It is almost exclusively in the construction industry. The fact that I react so strongly is because I believe this is a symptom of a short-sighted policy that benefits the State, not the employees, that they have brought it up.
She thinks it’s a strange policy, all the time a commuter is asked to move closer to the workplace could mean that the commuter’s partner or spouse ends up commuting instead – if they have a workplace closer to where they live.
– When young people and workers are met by this, it will lead to a great deal of contempt for politicians when they see that they are putting their shoes on the thing. Secondly, it will be difficult to get hold of people for jobs in the districts who think long-term. It is very special that the Center Party can support such a policy.
She thinks it strange that the rule cannot be changed as quickly as it was introduced.
– We will see that people will make use of the existing systems. The lopsided distribution that is inflicted on the employees is not the one that wins, but the state.
At the same time as a Storting politician can get commuter accommodation if he lives further than four miles from Oslo, Lofthus has to drive 440 miles round trip to his workplace every day. She can get a travel deduction for that.
– If I drive back and forth to work every day, I get a deduction of 82,000 according to the new regulations, which is half of what she got in previous years as an approved weekly commuter. But who can bear six hours in a car to get the maximum deduction, and get to work and home?, she asks rhetorically.
Read also: This is how Proud Boys are quietly changing America (+)
Read also: She can become Oslo bishop: Many people ask if Sunniva Gylver will pray for them (+)
Read also: These diseases now dominate