Court rules no tax on strip club "artists"

OSLO - A Norwegian court ruled on Tuesday that strip clubs did not have to pay value added tax (VAT) because their services were a form of art performed by artists, a Norwegian news agency said.
Tax authorities had taken club operator Blue Engel AS to court for refusing to charge customers an additional 25 percent VAT on ticket sales.
"One can suspect there were moral scruples behind the tax authorities' claim since all forms of stage dance are free of value-added tax," the club owner's attorney Stein Fagerhaug was quoted as saying by Norwegian online news service Nettavisen.