– Uncritical Skepticism – V.G

Siegbjörn Annes had long been in Hoyer’s inner circle. Now he is at the throat of the NRK case over Tina Puru’s tax notice.

NRK Conservative Party Deputy Leader Tina Prue said on Tuesday afternoon that she had received a tax fraud notice. Prue lived tax-free in a boarding house in Oslo for several years, while she rented her parents’ apartment in Stavanger.

Self She tells Viji He has a dispute with the tax agency over how much rent he should have paid for the apartment, and he denies doing anything illegal.

He is backed by former chiropractor and higher adviser Sigbjörn Aness, who has been a vocal critic of the national treasurer. Facebook Registration:

– NRK seems to mix a lot of things together, and ethics editor Per Arne Kalbach writes that it might seem like wandering the corridors or on vacation.

NRK’s ​​response to the case can be read further below.

Asnes explains to VG:

– This is a long-standing frustration of mine – namely that politicians are generally highly suspect. This creates problems with recruitment, and he believes it will be difficult for young district politicians entering the Storting.

Anees insists that she does not know the facts of the case and has not spoken directly to Prue. In 2018, he jumped from politics and became a partner at PR firm First House.

– I think we have done very little to highlight the positive aspects of politicians in Norway, although someone in the First House saying so doesn’t help, he added.

– Uncritical skepticism

A former Conservative adviser believes the NRK case goes too far in questioning Tina Prue’s use of commuter housing.

NRK indicates, among others, that the parents, children, husband and she were registered at one address during the period 2018-2021. They also describe that Puru’s parents were active in a Facebook group belonging to the apartment’s condominium.

– I had to read the case three times before I understood that it boils down to the rental price of the house in Stavanger. It’s not critical journalism — uncritical skepticism, says Ausnes.

Tina Buru also believes that NRK has wrongly raised suspicions.

– During the work on this case, I have given NRK access to parts of my notice, including that I fulfill the travel condition and that the tax agency has no doubt that I have actually disposed of the apartment we rented. However, NRK chose to doubt this, he wrote in an email to VG on Tuesday.

Puru has explained that he disagreed with the tax agency on whether he should have paid the market price for the apartment in Stavanger or only the fixed costs of the rent.

Between 2018 and 2021, he paid an average of NOK 4,300 per month in rent. NRK writes that the Swedish Tax Agency has laid out Statistics Norway’s rental market survey For the land, this implies that Bru must have paid more than NOK 8,000 in rent.

Prue mentioned the requirements in the “next of kin” rule, which he believes means a family is not taxed on rent as long as it covers the fixed costs of the rental property.

NRK: – An obvious message

VG has criticized NRK from both Sikbjörn Aenes and Buru.

Marius Tetli, subject director at NRK’s ​​news department, points out that writing such cases about people in power is part of journalism’s social work:

– NRK says the Conservative Party deputy leader has received a notice about the tax demands, which he disputes. We believe this is an obvious message, Tetley writes in an email to VG.

– This is an important magazine that NRK and other media should engage in, he adds.

Tetley believes the background to Tina Buru’s dispute with the tax agency and the notice is clear in their case.

– We believe it is appropriate to describe the facts surrounding his arrangement at home in Stavanger, he writes.

– Lawyers disagree about several cases of high-level politicians being notified about tax claims. This is evident in our case.

Not the problem

– You are a kind of popularity expert. Whether or not Tina Prue broke the law is one thing, but how do you think it looks on the outside?

– There are differences between cases where there were clearly illegal acts, where you did not live where you said you did, and where you followed the rules and acted in good faith, answers Anas.

Tina Bru did not share the tax agency’s full announcement with VG or NRK, but the latter published a section in which the agency concluded that the Conservative vice-president had met the criteria to be counted as a traveler during the given period.

– I am not saying that there is no case, but this is not about the personal case of Tina Bru. The reality is that the Norwegian Tax Agency, the Prime Minister’s Office and Starting disagree with how the rules should be interpreted, says Aanes.

– What is happening now is that the press is going to write a lot about Tina Bru and this disagreement with the tax agency. If there was a conclusion that she was right, it wouldn’t get as much attention, he adds.

45 Alerts

In total, the tax agency has sent 45 Notices of Additional Tax Claims For representatives of the Storting and members of government who have received passenger accommodation.

The Prime Minister’s Office said Politicians who received the notice did not agree to pay additional tax. Because they believe the tax agency is not clear on how the rules should be interpreted.

The same Management at Storting says.

A number of media reports last year sparked debate surrounding MPs’ use of passenger accommodation.

Before last year’s election Kjell Ingolf Ropstad resigned as KrF party leader After Offenposten is Disclosure of his use of passenger accommodation. Eva Christine Hansen (AP) He resigned as chairman of the Storting After a similar exposure in Adresseavisen.

In the month of March Hadiya Tajik resigned Later as a minister and deputy leader of the Labor Party Viji’s revelation about his computer housing case.