124.571/110
The Minister in Norway (Biddle) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 27.]
Sir: I have the honor to make further reference to the Department’s instruction No. 282, of March 26, 1935, directing the Legation again to present to the Norwegian Government the matter of exemption from taxation of Legation property of the United States Government in Oslo on the basis of reciprocity as well as to my predecessor’s despatch No. 624, May 14, 1935.13 In the latter communication Mr. Philip stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had not yet replied to the representations made by this Mission in April last, in compliance with the Department’s above-mentioned instruction.
As a sequel to renewed representations of this Legation made in the form of a third person note of July 29, 1935, I am now in receipt of a reply from the Foreign Office, dated September 4. Therein it is stated that while existing Norwegian legislation does not permit of present exemption of the Legation property from payment of the property tax to the municipality of Oslo, the matter has been submitted to the appropriate Norwegian authorities in the hope that a satisfactory solution may be obtained. The Ministry promises to supply a supplementary communication at an early date. A translation of the Ministry’s note is enclosed for the more complete information of the Department.13 Should the promised word from the Ministry not be forthcoming within a reasonable time, I shall again invite its attention to the subject.14
Respectfully yours,
- Not printed.↩
- Not printed.↩
- In a third-person circular note, dated June 30, 1937, the Norwegian Minister for Foreign Affairs notified the foreign legations in Oslo of an alteration in article 7 of law 9 of August 18, 1911, effecting the exemption from the payment of the municipal property tax, on the basis of reciprocity, of “properties belonging to foreign Powers and which house their legations (consulates).” (124.571/128)↩