Who is subject to the reporting obligation and must submit a-meldings

If you have employees or you pay salary, pensions or other benefits, you'll be subject to the reporting obligation in the a-ordning scheme and must submit a-meldings.

The reporting obligation concerns an obligation to provide information concerning employment, salary and other benefits, withholding tax deductions, employer’s national insurance contributions, financial activity tax on salary and attachment of earnings to cover taxes. You must report information concerning employment every month up to and including the month in which the employment ends. Report information concerning the employment even in months the employee has not received any salary.

See the a-melding guide and what you have to specify and how to make changes and correct faults

 

The threshold amount is NOK 1,000

• If salary payments to a person exceed NOK 1,000 per year, you must specify this in the a-melding. 
• If salary payments to a person are NOK 1,000  or less per year, you don't specify this in the a-melding.
  
  

To find out whether  you're above or below the threshold amount, you must check what salary and expense allowances not subject to withholding tax amount to both individually and collectively. In this context, salary comprises all allowances subject to withholding tax and taxable payments in kind which constitute remuneration for work.

• If the salary is less than NOK 1,000 and expense allowances amount to less than NOK 1,000, you don't provide information on this.
• If the salary is more than NOK 1,000, you must provide information on both salary and any expense allowances.
• If the salary is less than NOK 1,000 and expense allowances amount to more than NOK 1,000, you must provide information on the expense allowances.
  
  

If you've reached the threshold amount, you must provide information on both the employment and the associated salary payments in the a-melding.

You must submit a-meldings from and including the month in which the threshold amount is exceeded and for as long as you've got payments or employment. Only when you don't make any payments and set an end date for the employment relationships should you stop submitting a-meldings.

 

Sole proprietorships

If you run a sole proprietorship which has employees, you must submit an a-melding every month until the month in which the employment relationships end.

The owner and spouse must not be treated as employees, and payments and employment circumstances must not be reported in the a-melding. The rules for cohabitants are different. A cohabitant who works for a sole proprietorship must be appointed as an employee.

Payments made to persons who are not employees, such as fees to freelancers or contractors who are not self-employed, must be reported in the a-melding in the months in which payments are made. In these cases, you should use the employment type “Freelancers, contractors and fee recipients”. Employment relationships of this type are registered in the Aa Register from 2021. You only need to submit an a-melding in months in which payments are made to freelancers, contractors and fee recipients.

 

Managing directors who do not take a salary

If you are listed as a managing director in the Central Coordinating Register of Legal Entities, but you do not perform any other duties for the company, no employment relationship should normally be reported for you in the a-melding. If you receive a director’s fee, your employment relationship must be reported as a freelancer, contractor, fee recipient, etc. This employment is only reported for the month or months in which you receive a fee.

 

No salary payments to the managing director during a start-up phase

If your business is newly started and the managing director does not initially take a salary or other remuneration (e.g. free use of a car or telephone), but you expect the managing director to receive a salary in the future, you can report the employment relationship from the month in which you start the business, even if no payments have been made to the managing director. The managing director’s employment relationship must be reported as an ordinary employment relationship. Remember to report the employment relationship every month until the managing director leaves the business.

 

Dividends to managing directors

If you are registered as a managing director in the Register of Legal Entities, but are not considered to be an employee of the enterprise, neither your dividends nor your employment relationship should be reported in the a-melding.

 

Rights relating to NAV

The type of employment may be of significance as regards the entitlements of the managing director as regards benefits from NAV and the income on which the benefit will be based. It is therefore important that the managing director and the person who submits a-meldings for the enterprise determine whether or not the managing director is considered to be an employee and what their income is.

 

Special rules apply to certain groups

If you belong to one of the following groups, you must check which rules apply:

Child minding and care of children in the child's home
If you’re reporting payments for the minding and care of children and the payments do not exceed the set threshold amounts, you can submit a simplified a-melding. This applies to the minding and care of children who have not reached the age of 12 by the end of the year or children aged 12 or older who have special care needs in the child’s home. This is also applies to au pairs. Read more about the simplified a-melding for the minding and care of children and the applicable threshold amounts.

Work in private homes and holiday properties
If you as a private individual make payments to other persons who carry out work in your private home or holiday home, you can submit a simplified a-melding if the total amount per year do not exceed the set threshold amounts. If you know that you’ll exceed the threshold amount during the year, you must submit an ordinary a-melding. You can submit the a-melding from a payroll system (A02), directly from skatteetaten.no or in Altinn (A01). Read more about the simplified a-melding and the applicable threshold amounts.

Tax-free organisations
Under Section 2-32 first paragraph of the Tax Act, tax-free organisations are exempt from the reporting obligation when the total amount paid to a person during the calendar year does not exceed NOK 10,000. However, you must still specify employer’s national insurance contributions. If the payment exceeds NOK 10,000, you must provide information on the full amount. The a-melding must be submitted from a system (A02) or directly at skatteetaten.no.

Charitable and non-profit organisations
Charitable and benevolent organisations for which there is no obligation to pay employer's national insurance contributions in accordance with section 23-2, subsection 8, of the National Insurance Act, can submit a simplified a-melding if the total salary expenses do not exceed the set threshold amounts. If you know that you will exceed the threshold amount during the year, you must submit an ordinary a-melding. You can submit the a-melding from a payroll system (A02) or directly from skatteetaten.no.. Read more about the simplified a-melding for charitable and benevolent organisations and the applicable threshold amounts.

International
For foreign employers and Norwegian employers with employees abroad, special rules may apply. See the explanatory information concerning foreign employers with assignments in Norway and Norwegian employers with foreign relations

See also work performed on board NIS and NOR ships

See also the exceptions for ordinary and maritime employment

 

The procedure when someone leaves

If you have an employee who is leaving or a freelancer who is completing an assignment, you must submit an a-melding in which you set the end date for the employment relationship. For ordinary or maritime employment you must also state cause of end date. You must also set an end date in cases where the employee may come back at a later date. If the employee does come back to work for you, you must create a new employment relationship with a new start date and a new employment ID.

See more information on the procedure when someone leaves

If you do not report the employment without setting an end date, you will get the error message Employment information is missing (F108 / MAGNET_EDAG-108). If the error is not corrected, an enforcement fine will be imposed on your enterprise.

 

Leave and layoffs

If the employee is on leave or laid off when he or she leaves, you must set an end date for the leave or layoff, as well as an end date for the employment.

See more information on leave

See more information on layoffs

 

Holiday pay

You must report holiday pay which is payable to an employee in the month in which the holiday pay is actually paid. It is important that no new employment relationship is created when the holiday pay is paid. Report the payment without an employment relationship or set the same start and end dates as were reported previously.

See more information on how to report holiday pay when the employment is ended

 

Who doesn't have to provide employment information

In some cases, you don't have to provide employment information.

This applies to:

• Salary payments which are exempt from employer's national insurance contributions under the provisions of Section 23-2 seventh to eight paragraphs of the National Insurance Act. 
  
  
• Salary payments below the reporting obligation threshold (see above) under Section 7-2-1 of the Tax Administration Regulation.
  
  
• Persons only receiving expense allowance but no salary, fees etc.
  
  
• Employees who are foreign citizens working for an international organisation with an office in Norway
  
  
• Employees who must be reported to the tax office in accordance with Section 7-6 of the Tax Administration Act. This applies to employees who are subject to the reporting obligation via the Assignment and employment register (RF-1199/RF-1198) to the Norwegian tax directorate.
  
  
• Fishermen and hunters recorded in the census created pursuant to Section 4 of the Fishermen's Pension Benefits Act. These are exempt because they're considered to be self-employed.
  
  
• In some situations for ordinary and maritime employment. See exceptions for ordinary and maritime employment for more information.