Norway, EY Partner to Open Decentraland Tax Office

Norway’s government has begun its own Web3 venture after launching a metaverse-based tax office. The move aims to connect with Gen Z and Millennials and build Web3 technologies, it announced on Wednesday.

Norway’s central register and tax authority, or Brønnøysund and Skatteetaten, respectively, announced the news at the Nokios conference it had partnered with Ernst and Young (EY), one of the world’s Big Four consultancy firms, to open its tax office on Decentraland’s metaverse platform.

EY’s Nordic blockchain lead, Magnus Jones, said in a post on Wednesday he hoped the collaboration would boost education on Web3 technologies, taxes linked to decentralised finance (DeFi), and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

He wrote at the time the Metaverse was a channel “where we have to be present” and was ideal for learning purposes, adding EY also has offices on the virtual platform.

Norway’s Brønnøysund also plans to explore decentralised autonomous organisations (DAOs), smart contracts, and other Web3 services to build its portfolio of solutions.

The news comes after the Scandinavian nation began integrating Arbitrum’s Ethereum-based services for a platform for unlisted companies.

We all know that narratives in this space come and go.

However, one thing that has stayed constant throughout is the commitment of both builders and users in the Ethereum community to decentralization while scaling 🏗️🧑‍🤝‍🧑

— Arbitrum (@arbitrum) June 24, 2022

It also recently joined Sweden and Israel to mull plans for a central band digital currency (CBDC) to facilitate borderless payments with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS).

The company said in a statement,

“We’re very intrigued to see what more the world will seek to build atop Ethereum, and we’re committed to doing our part to scale Ethereum globally”

The Metaverse Space Race Recap

The news comes as several key cities, regions, and countries step up their efforts to build metaverse and Web3 tools to support citizens and those seeking consular, tourism, or educational services.

Barbados was the first government to launch an embassy in Decentraland, leading to global access to embassy services. The deal will also establish e-visa services and avatars for teleporting between spaces.

South Korea has also invested heavily in its own metaverse ambitions with $187.6 million USD and additional historical preservation projects using spatial communications. It also launched further projects to develop hyperconnectivity and metaverse infrastructure valued at $2.2 billion.

Aspiring tech hubs Dubai and Shanghai have also opened massive metaverse plans, with the latter pledging $52 million. Both aim to boost their portfolio of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, extended reality (XR), 5G networking and telecoms, among others.

Both countries hope to compete for the top spots as a global tech hub for the world’s biggest enterprises by roughly 2025.