Don't Mess With Taxes

It's a tax dream come true for Dream Go Go dancers and their colleagues at other Norwegian striptease clubs.

It's probably made a bunch of 15-year-old boys, whether at that age chronologically or just emotionally, pretty happy, too.

The official word in Norway is that exotic dancing is a nontaxable art form.

An Oslo district court ruled in May that stripping is art like opera or ballet.

This week, Norway's High Court agreed, thereby freeing the nation's clubs from paying the country’s 25 percent value-added tax (VAT), a levy collected not only in that Scandinavian country, but across most of Europe, on goods and services when they are sold.

The Times of London noted, "It was not clear whether the three judges had conducted field research before reaching their verdict."

The case began when Norwegian tax authorities demanded more than 1 million crowns ($204,000 U.S.) from the Blue Angel club in Oslo in unpaid VAT. The tax collectors contended that audiences were attracted to the shows by nudity, not art. Therefore, argued tax officials, tickets to the strip clubs are subject to the tax.

Lawyers for the Blue Angel contested the tax demands, arguing that when the women removed their nurse, policewomen or flamenco dancer costumes, they were demonstrating artistic flair. The clubs featuring female dancers also pointed to the country's tax -- and nudity -- double standard.

Apparently, tickets for the male strip show Chippendales are exempt from the tax because of that production's artistic merit. It's unclear who made that differentiation. And I'm not sure what exactly that distinction says about the dancers, Norwegian tax officials or the country itself.

But with the High Court ruling, it's all moot now.

The owner of the String Show Bar in Oslo said back in May that without the tax, clubs would be able to operate with better margins. And, sure to please patrons, he didn't rule out cutting the club's 150 Norwegian crowns ($30) entry fee.

Photo of Sally Rand, world famous fan dancer, who brought her review to Las Vegas in the early 1930s. (courtesy of EarlyVegas.com)