VAT in Norway

Norwegian VAT, called merverdiavgift or MVA, starts with one question: are you required to register? Skatteetaten says registration is needed once taxable sales pass NOK 50,000 within twelve months for most enterprises. After that come the returns, the correct rate for each product or service, and the invoices to customers in Norway and abroad. A business with no place of business in Norway should ask a firm early whether it must register through a Norwegian representative.

Questions for a prospective firm: does it prepare the returns or only advise, how often are they filed, and who deals with the tax office if a return is queried? Check how it treats sales to customers abroad and purchases from suppliers outside Norway, since the documents it needs differ. Ask whether it has acted for businesses without an establishment in Norway, and which languages it writes to you in.

Accountanty lists 31 firms in Norway that offer VAT: 28 accounting firms, two law firms and one corporate service provider. Fifteen are medium-sized, ten small and six part of large networks. Norwegian is offered by 28 firms and English by 25, and 26 have a foreign-client focus. Construction, real estate, start-ups and e-commerce are the sectors named most often. VAT follows the ledgers, so see accounting in Norway and the Oslo page.