Shipping companies

Qualifying assets 

The company must own at least one qualifying asset in the form of a ship, either directly or indirectly through another company.  

The other company may be a shipping partnership or limited partnership. In such cases, income is determined under the tonnage tax rules for the proportionate share owned by a participant within the regime. 

Indirect ownership of ships may also be satisfied where a private limited company owns shares in another private limited company or public limited company that participates in the regime. 

For shares or ownership interests to qualify as a qualifying asset, the company must hold at least a 3 percent ownership interest throughout the income year. 

A qualifying ship may either be a vessel in traffic, an offshore service vessel, or another support vessel in petroleum activities. It may also be a ship used in activities related to the installation, repair, maintenance, or dismantling of offshore wind turbines. 

Companies that only lease ships and do not own qualifying assets are not covered by the tonnage tax regime. 

Special rules for "vessels in traffic"

The term "vessel in traffic" depends on the nature of the vessel, its size, the activities it carries out, and the area in which it operates. A fundamental requirement for a ship to be regarded as a "vessel in traffic" is that it's moving while carrying out its activities.  

As a general rule, for a ship to be regarded as a "vessel in traffic", it must have its own propulsion machinery and, in addition, the vessel must be 100 gross registered tonnes or more.  

Ships engaged in stationary activities and harbour traffic are not regarded as "vessels in traffic". This applies even if the ship is 100 gross registered tonnes or more. The same applies to ships carrying out other activities within a limited operating area where the distance sailed does not exceed 30 nautical miles. See SKD 10 April 2019 in Utv. 019/436 for more information in Norwegian. 

Ships engaged in international traffic that have their own propulsion machinery are regarded as "vessel in traffic", regardless of size and operating area. 

See section 8-11-1 of the FSFIN Regulation to the Taxation Act (Lovdata) in Norwegian for more detailed rules on what is and is not regarded as a "vessel in traffic". See also the guidance in Norwegian in the guide Skatte-ABC. 

Permitted assets 

In addition to qualifying assets, companies within the tonnage tax regime may also own financial assets, except:  

• shares in non-listed companies that fall outside the tonnage tax regime 
• interests in partnerships where income is not determined under the tonnage tax regime 
• financial instruments that give the right to buy or sell non-listed shares or interests that fall 
• shares and interests in pool arrangements under certain conditions 

It's also permitted to own operating assets that are necessary for carrying out permitted activities, except for real property.

As a general rule, a company within the regime may not carry out activities other than the leasing and operation of owned and leased ships. Where ships are leased out, the company must ensure that they are used within the categories of "vessels in traffic", "support vessels in petroleum activities", or "windmill vessels". 

A company may also carry out activities in the form of strategic and commercial management, as well as the day-to-day technical operation and maintenance of its ships, including ongoing ship management. Management activities may be carried out in relation to ships in other companies within the same group and ships belonging to other companies participating in a pool company in which the group also participates. 

In addition, the company may carry out other activities closely connected to sea transport operations, such as cargo handling related to transport activities, the sale of goods and services used on board ships, and activities related to passenger terminals. 

Companies taxed under the tonnage tax regime may not receive income from the operation of construction vessels on the Norwegian continental shelf and, as a general rule, may not receive income from the operation of windmill vessels in Norwegian territorial waters. However, the leasing of such vessels on bareboat charter terms to an operating company outside the regime is a permitted activity.  

A company taxed under the tonnage tax regime may also have employees who only perform work relating to permitted activities. The same applies where labour is hired in or services are purchased. 

General

Private limited companies and public limited companies within the tonnage tax regime must increase or maintain their proportion of EEA-registered net tonnage compared with the proportion that existed at an earlier point in time (the measurement date). There is no separate flagging requirement for businesses assessed as partnerships and NOKUS companies. However, such companies must still provide information about EEA-registered tonnage. 

The proportion of EEA-registered net tonnage compared with the company’s total net tonnage is referred to as the company’s flag status.  

Net tonnage is calculated on the basis of the tonnage stated at any given time in tonnage certificates that are valid in Norway pursuant to the Regulations of 30 June 2015 No. 823 on the tonnage measurement of ships and mobile offshore units (Lovdata). When calculating tonnage tax, net tonnage must be rounded to the nearest thousand tonnes. For vessels with a net tonnage of less than 1,000 tonnes, net tonnage must be rounded to the nearest 100 tonnes. Vessels with a net tonnage of less than 50 tonnes are rounded up to 100 tonnes. 

The requirement to increase or maintain the proportion of EEA-registered net tonnage does not apply as long as the company has at least 60 percent EEA-registered tonnage.  

Each autumn, the Ministry of Finance announces whether a flagging requirement will apply, based on a national flagging requirement. If the overall proportion of EEA-registered tonnage within the regime as at 31 December of the previous year has increased or been maintained compared with the overall proportion of EEA-registered tonnage within the regime as at 31 December of the year before, no flagging requirement applies. 

Failure to comply with the flagging requirement may result in the company having to exit the tonnage tax regime.  

In years where a flagging requirement applies, companies that do not meet the requirement have a period of two months from the announcement to rectify the situation if they are to avoid having to exit the regime.  

The flagging requirement applies for the 2025 income year.

Determining the flagging requirement  

If a company has a determining influence over other companies pursuant to section 1-3 of the Accounting Act (Lovdata), and those companies also fall within the tonnage tax regime, the flagging requirement must be assessed on a consolidated basis for the parent company and the underlying company (a consolidated group of companies). The underlying company may be a private limited company, public limited company, a business assessed as a partnership, or a NOKUS company.  

The tonnage of the underlying company must be included in full when assessing the flagging requirement, and not only in proportion to the ownership interest in the company. 

Where a company within the regime has a determining influence over a business assessed as a partnership or a NOKUS company, the EEA-registered tonnage must be attributed in full to the company exercising determining influence. 

Where changes in the ownership structure result in determining influence being acquired or ceasing to exist, the flagging requirement must be reassessed. 

A new flagging requirement must be established at the measurement date if the company has been party to a merger or demerger. In the event of an acquisition, entry, or incorporation that results in one or more companies becoming affiliated with a consolidated group of companies, a new flagging requirement must be established for the consolidated group of companies. The same applies in the event of a disposal or withdrawal that results in the termination of a consolidated group of companies, or one or more companies no longer forming part of a consolidated group of companies.

The measurement date is 1 July 2005 or, where applicable, a later date on which the company entered the tonnage tax regime. For newly incorporated companies, the measurement date is the date of incorporation.  

A company’s election to enter the tonnage tax regime is binding for a period of 10 years, including the year of entry. 

If the company exits the regime during the 10-year period, it may not re-enter the regime until the 10-year period has expired.

The election to enter the tonnage tax regime must be made jointly for all qualifying companies that belong to the same group pursuant to section 1-3 of the Norwegian Private Limited Liability Companies Act and section 1-3 of the Norwegian Public Limited Liability Act (Lovdata).  

A group exists where a parent company, by virtue of an agreement or through ownership of shares or ownership interests, has determining influence over another company, usually where one company owns more than 50 percent of the shares in another company.  

If one company in the group elects to enter the tonnage tax regime, all other qualifying companies in the group must also enter the regime. Only companies that qualify for taxation under the tonnage tax regime are included in the group requirement.  

A group company that exits the tonnage tax regime before the expiry of the binding period no longer qualifies for the tonnage tax regime until the 10-year binding period has expired and is therefore not included in the group requirement. This applies regardless of whether the company exits the regime due to a breach of the conditions of the tonnage tax regime or voluntarily. The other group companies that remain within the tonnage tax regime will therefore not breach the group requirement because one of the companies exits the regime. 

Where two companies within the tonnage tax regime merge, the binding period and any quarantine period of the acquiring company are continued in the new company. 

Whether companies belong to the same group must be assessed at the time the tax return is submitted. 

If the company is incorporated during the income year, it may enter the regime from the date of incorporation. A company that has had no activities since it was incorporated may enter the regime when it acquires a qualifying asset. 

A company that is to enter the regime following a demerger under the tax continuity rules may not enter the tonnage tax regime until 1 January of the year following the year of the demerger. If the demerging company was taxed under the tonnage tax regime before the demerger, the demerged company may also claim taxation under the tonnage tax regime in the year of the demerger.  

Operating income and any increase in the value of operating assets arising after entry into the regime are exempt from tax. Upon entry into the tonnage tax regime, an income settlement is carried out in respect of untaxed income and increases in value relating to the company’s tax-exempt activities. As a general rule, the company is taxed on the difference between fair value and tax values at the time of entry. Gains may be transferred to the gain and loss account, while any loss lapses. 

For all types of assets, the opening value is set at the company’s tax equity capital (the company’s accounting equity capital adjusted for the equity component of net temporary differences between accounting and tax values, including tax losses carried forward). 

For financial assets that fall within the exemption method (except interests in underlying businesses assessed as partnerships), acquisition cost is used as the starting value. For other financial assets (for example, receivables, bank deposits, and shares that do not fall within the exemption method), the starting value is set at the tax value.  

For other assets that are not regarded as financial assets (for example, directly owned vessels and interests in businesses assessed as partnerships), the starting value is set at market value. 

The tax value of debt must be deducted when determining the starting value on entry into the regime. 

Tax losses carried forward from before the company enters the tonnage tax regime, and any loss arising when calculating gains or losses on entry, may not be carried forward against future financial income in the company.

Transfer of an interest in a business assessed as a partnership that falls within the exemption method to a company within the tonnage tax regime 

If a company taxed under the ordinary rules transfers an interest in a business assessed as a partnership (or a NOKUS company) that falls within the exemption method to a company taxed under the tonnage tax regime, an income settlement must be carried out in the acquiring company taxed under the tonnage tax regime. Such an income settlement must be carried out if the transferring company is owned by a company that has:

• direct or indirect ownership interests in the acquiring company 
• direct or indirect ownership interests in a company that has direct or indirect ownership interests in the acquiring company 

The exemption method is only relevant where a gain on disposal is taxable in Norway. If the seller is exempt from taxation in Norway under section 2-34 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata), the exemption method does not apply and no income settlement is carried out in connection with the disposal.  

The income settlement is carried out in the acquiring company taxed under the tonnage tax regime. The income is the positive difference between the tax value and the market value of the interest at the time of disposal. If the transfer price differs from market value, the market value must be determined by assessment, and losses are not deductible. The tax value of the interest is determined in the same way as on entry into the regime. Gains may be transferred to the gain and loss account. 

See section 8-14, subsection 4, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) and the guide Skatte-ABC 2025, under "Rederiselskaper" (Shipping companies) point 2.4.5.

Transfer of an interest in a business assessed as a partnership from a related company before the acquiring company enters the tonnage tax regime 

In certain cases, the opening value of an ownership interest in a business assessed as a partnership must be adjusted if the entering company acquired the interest from a related company, and only where the gain would have fallen within the exemption method. However, no adjustment is made if the transfer took place more than three years before entry into the tonnage tax regime. 

An adjustment of the opening value must be made where an interest in a business assessed as a partnership has been transferred through a disposal or withdrawal from a company that has: 

• direct or indirect ownership interests in the acquiring company 
• direct or indirect ownership interests in a company that has direct or indirect ownership interests in the acquiring company 

The opening value used in the income settlement is adjusted downwards by any positive change in the premium or discount compared with the premium or discount held by the previous owner. No adjustment is made if the premium has been reduced compared with that of the previous owner, or if the discount has increased. Where the interest has been transferred several times within the three-year period, the opening value must be adjusted by the total change in premium or discount arising from all transfers. 

See section 8-14, subsection 6, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) and the guide Skatte-ABC 2025, under "Rederiselskaper" (Shipping companies) point 2.4.6.

The company is exempt from tax on operating revenue from shipping activities. In addition, gains and losses arising from the disposal of permitted operating assets are exempt from tax.

The same applies to gains and losses arising from the sale of shares and ownership interests in underlying companies taxed under the tonnage tax regime, such as businesses assessed as partnerships and NOKUS companies, and shares and ownership interests in pool arrangements pursuant to section 8-11, subsection 1, letter d, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).

Where transactions that are tax exempt within the tonnage tax regime are settled in a foreign currency, the so-called pooling principle applies, see the guide Skatte-ABC 2025:  Valutagevinst/-tap (Foreign exchange gain/-loss), V-1 point 1. Where the pooling principle applies, the part of the gain or loss that relates to changes in the exchange rate is also covered by the tax exemption.

Where distributions are made to taxpayers outside the regime, the ordinary tax rules apply (the shareholder model and the exemption method). The same applies where shareholders outside the regime dispose of shares in the company. 

The ordinary provisions of the Taxation Act generally apply to financial income and financial expenses. The exemption method applies in the same way as it does for companies outside the regime.  

For exceptions and special rules relating to the calculation of taxable income, see section 8-15 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

A deduction for interest expenses is only allowed for a proportion of the interest expenses. The proportion is calculated on the basis of the relationship between the company’s recognised financial capital and its total capital. The allocation is based on the average carrying value of the asset items as at 1 January and 31 December. Interest expenses are expenses that fall within the definition of interest in section 6-40 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

The interest limitation rule applies to the deductible portion of actual interest expenses and guarantee costs, see section 8-15, subsection 4, third sentence (Lovdata). 

Income recognition resulting from a high equity ratio only applies to private limited companies and public limited companies that are separate taxable entities within the tonnage tax regime. Section 8-15, subsection 7 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) contains rules on standardised income recognition where the equity ratio is high. 

If the shipping company has an equity ratio of at least 70 percent of total assets, the company must recognise as income a percentage of the portion of equity exceeding that threshold. The percentage is set equal to a standard interest rate determined annually by the Ministry of Finance. Standard interest rate when taxing excessive equity under the tonnage tax regime (Lovdata).

Example of calculating the income adjustment for excessive equity:

Losses arising from interest or from other financial income or expenses may be carried forward and set off against corresponding income in a later year. 

However, such losses may not be deducted from income determined in connection with entry into the tonnage tax regime.  

See sections 8-14 and 8-15 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

The vessel's net tonnage means the net tonnage determined under the Regulations on the tonnage measurement of ships etc. (Lovdata).

When calculating tonnage tax, net tonnage must be rounded to the nearest 1,000 tonnes. For vessels with a net tonnage of less than 1,000 tonnes, net tonnage must be rounded to the nearest 100 tonnes. Vessels with a net tonnage of less than 50 tonnes are rounded up to 100 tonnes.

Environmental factor – environmental reduction 

Tonnage tax may be reduced by up to 25 percent if the vessels meet specific environmental and safety requirements (environmental declaration) issued by the Norwegian Maritime Authority on the basis of the criteria laid down in the Regulations on environmental declaration in connection with environmental differentiation for ships   and mobile offshore units declaration in connection with environmental differentiation for ships etc. (Lovdata). 

A reduction in tonnage tax must be claimed when the tax return is submitted for the relevant year, and a copy of the confirmed registered environmental declaration must be attached to the tax return in the first year.  

Leased vessels 

Tonnage tax accrues on leased vessels.

Chartered-in vessels 

Tonnage tax accrues on chartered-in vessels if the owner is not liable to tax in Norway on the leasing of the vessel.   

The first charterer within the tonnage tax regime is liable to pay the tonnage tax.  

For chartered-in vessels, tonnage tax must be calculated for the period during which the vessel has been available to the charterer.  

Number of days 

Tonnage tax is calculated on the basis of 365 days for the 2025 income year. If a vessel has been out of service for a continuous period exceeding three months during the income year, no tonnage tax is payable for that period.

A claim for exit is made by determining the company's income under the ordinary rules in the tax return, see section 9-1 of the Tax Administration Act (Lovdata). This election is binding on the company for the income year in question. The ordinary right to amend a self-assessment within three years does not apply to the election to exit the tonnage tax regime, see section  9-4, subsection 1, fifth sentence of the Tax Administration Act (Lovdata). 

See also the sections on the binding period and group contributions.  

A company within the tonnage tax regime is also regarded as having exited the regime if the conditions in sections 8-11 to 8-13 of the Taxation Act are breached and the breach is not remedied:  

• The company no longer owns qualifying assets. 
• The company owns assets that are not permitted under the tonnage tax regime. 
• The company has breached the flagging requirement. 
• An underlying company breaches the conditions. 

See section 8-11 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).

For example, a breach of the requirement relating to permitted activities or work performed will occur if the company or its employees engage in activities that are not permitted under the tonnage tax regime. See section 8-13 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).

A breach of the group requirement occurs if one or more qualifying companies within a group have not elected taxation under the tonnage tax regime. See section 8-12, subsection 2 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).

Reinvestment in qualifying assets 

A company that disposes of its only qualifying asset does not have to exit the regime if it acquires a new qualifying asset within one year of the disposal. 

The same applies to businesses assessed as partnerships and NOKUS companies for their income to be determined under the tonnage tax rules. Such companies may not reinvest in private limited companies or public limited companies that fall within the regime.

Where reinvestment takes place within the one-year period, a quarantine period of two years applies. During that period, the company must own qualifying assets continuously for two years from the date of reinvestment. 

See section 8-11, subsections 4, 5 and 6 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).

Breaches that can be remedied  

Breaches of the asset and activity requirements may be remedied within two months: 

• If the company acquires assets that are not permitted, it may dispose of them.  
• If the flagging requirement is breached, the company must increase its proportion of EEA-registered tonnage. 
• If the requirement relating to permitted activities or work performed is breached, the company may cease the non-permitted activity.

Where more than one breach occurs within a three-year period, the company is not entitled to remedy the breach. 

If the breach is immaterial and beyond the company's control, the two-month period runs from the time when the company should have discovered the breach. 

See section 8-17, subsection 3 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).
See sections 8-11 and 8-13, subsections 1 and 2 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

Breaches that cannot be remedied 

If the company has breached the condition that it may not receive income from the operation of construction vessels where such activities fall within the scope of section 1 of the Petroleum Tax Act (Lovdata), the breach cannot be remedied.  

The same applies to breaches of the percentage limits relating to the maximum proportion of tonnage that may be leased out on bareboat charter terms. In the event of such a breach, the company must exit the regime from the year in which the condition is breached. 

The company may also not remedy a breach of section 8-13, subsection 10, of the Taxation Act  (Lovdata) concerning the proportion of tonnage chartered in on time charter or voyage charter terms, see section 8-17, subsection 3, sixth and seventh sentences, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

Breaches in an underlying company 

The two-month period also applies where a remediable breach occurs in an underlying company (AS, ASA, a business assessed as a partnership, or a NOKUS company). 

If the underlying company does not remedy the breach within the two-month period, the shares or ownership interest will be regarded as a non-permitted asset for the parent company, and the parent company must exit the regime from the year in which the breach occurred in the underlying company. 

If an underlying company has disposed of qualifying assets so that it no longer satisfies the conditions for taxation under the tonnage tax regime, the share or ownership interest will be regarded as a permitted asset for the parent company until the one-year reinvestment period for the underlying company has expired. 

If the underlying company does not meet the reinvestment deadline, the shares or ownership interests become non-permitted assets for the parent company when the deadline expires. 

The parent company is then given a period of two months to dispose of the shares or ownership interests. If the parent company does not own any other qualifying assets when the one-year period expires, it is not granted an additional two-month period to acquire a new qualifying asset. In that case, the company must exit the regime from the year of disposal. 

The two-month period 

The two-month period runs from the time the breach of the conditions of the tonnage tax regime occurred. If the breach is immaterial or results from circumstances outside the company's control, the two-month period runs from the time the company should have discovered the breach. 

In the event of repeated breaches of the conditions relating to activities and work performed, the two-month period does not apply. A breach is regarded as repeated where a new breach occurs within three years of the date on which the previous breach was remedied. If remedying the breach would cause particular hardship, the tax office may extend the two-month period.

No separate taxation is carried out upon exit. All operating revenue and increases in the value of operating assets arising while the company was within the regime become permanently tax exempt for the company. Tax values are established for the company's assets and will form the basis for future tax depreciation and income settlements outside the regime in subsequent years. The determination of these values largely follows the same principles that apply upon entry into the regime.  

The tax values will form the basis for tax depreciation outside the regime and for any gain or loss calculation when the assets are subsequently disposed of.

Tax values are determined as follows: 

• Financial assets and shares that fall within the exemption method – the tax value is set equal to the acquisition cost of the assets.
• Other financial assets – the existing tax value is carried forward. 
• The company's other assets – the tax value is set at market value.
• Debt is carried forward at its tax value.

If the company has a revaluation account on exit and claimed a deduction for long-term unrealised foreign exchange losses in the year before exit (reduced according to the financial capital ratio), the company must, under the continuity principle, reverse or recognise the full amount as income in the following year under ordinary taxation, without any reduction according to the financial capital ratio. 

Where the company is wound up during the income year and advance determination has been requested, the balance sheet figures from the liquidation accounts at the date of dissolution must be used as the starting values when calculating the income adjustment for excessive equity under the tonnage tax regime. 

Group contributions may be made between companies that fall within the tonnage tax regime, and between companies where either the donor or the recipient falls within the regime and the recipient or donor is outside the regime, provided that the conditions for group contributions are met, see section 10-4 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

The group contributions have no tax effect. This applies even where the group contribution falls within taxable financial income and also where companies within the regime have taxable financial income.

If the recipient company has exited the regime, no deduction is allowed for group contributions in the year of exit or in the following two years. Such group contributions are also not taxable for the recipient.

See section 8-18 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

Unused financial losses that arose within the tonnage tax regime may be carried forward as ordinary tax losses after the company has exited the regime. 

Taxation within the regime 

Businesses assessed as partnerships and NOKUS companies cannot be taxable entities under the tonnage tax regime. 

If a company taxed under the tonnage tax regime owns interests in a business assessed as a partnership or a NOKUS company, income from that company must also be determined in accordance with the tonnage tax rules, provided that the business assessed as a partnership otherwise satisfies the conditions for taxation under the tonnage tax regime. For participants who are not covered by the tonnage tax regime, income is assessed under the ordinary provisions of the Taxation Act. 

Reinvestment 

A business assessed as a partnership and a NOKUS company must also own at least one qualifying asset for a share or ownership interest in such a company to be regarded as a permitted asset within the regime and for income from that company to be determined under the tonnage tax rules. The same reinvestment requirements apply to such companies as to private limited companies and public limited companies within the regime, except that such companies may not reinvest in private limited companies or public limited companies that fall within the regime.

Tonnage tax 

For vessels owned by a business assessed as a partnership or a NOKUS company, tonnage tax must be calculated in the ordinary way as if the company were liable to tax.  

The tonnage tax is then allocated to participants who fall within the tonnage tax regime. Where a business assessed as a partnership or a NOKUS company is owned by participants both within and outside the tonnage tax regime, the portion of the calculated tonnage tax attributable to participants outside the regime is disregarded. 

Exit  

Where a participant in a business assessed as a partnership exits the regime, and the business assessed as a partnership has no other participants taxed under the ordinary rules at the time of exit, the value of the operating assets is set at market value at the time of exit. Financial assets and debt retain their tax values.   

Where there are also participants outside the regime, tax values have already been established outside the regime and these will differ from market value. Upon exit, the exiting participant will, as a rule, take over a proportionate share of the tax values in the company, calculated in the same manner as for participants who have not been within the tonnage tax regime.   

To ensure that exiting participants are not taxed on latent gains or losses that arose within the regime when operating assets are disposed of in the future, separate accounts must be maintained for excess or negative excess values relating to participants who exit the tonnage tax regime. The excess or negative excess values will be linked to vessels and other operating assets.  

The difference between market value and tax value for each individual asset, except for the tax value of financial assets, must be recorded in the account.  

The account is offset against any gain or loss realised on the disposal of the operating asset that gave rise to the account, to the extent that the gain or loss results from the difference between market value and tax value at the time of exit. 

Any gain arising from the income settlement on entry may be transferred to a gain and loss account. The same applies to gains arising when a company taxed under the tonnage tax regime transfers an interest in a business assessed as a partnership that falls within the exemption method.  

See section 8-15, subsection 5, and section 8-14, subsection 7, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

General 

Leasing on bareboat charter terms means the leasing of a vessel where the owning company (the lessor) is not responsible for crewing the vessel. The counterpart to bareboat chartering is leasing on time charter terms or voyage charter terms, where responsibility for crewing the vessel rests with the owning company.

The restrictions on leasing vessels on bareboat charter terms do not apply where responsibility for crewing the vessel rests with a related company (whether within or outside the tonnage tax regime). Whether a company is related to the crewing company must be assessed separately for each leasing company. See section 8-13, subsection 6, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

The operational leasing rule

As a general rule, a company within the regime may not engage in so-called "financial" bareboat chartering as defined in section 8-13, subsection 6, of the Taxation Act. Leasing of vessels on other bareboat charter terms (operational leasing) is limited to 40 percent of the total tonnage of the group of companies. 

See section 8-14, subsection 8, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) and the guide Skatte-ABC 2025, under "Rederiselskaper" (Shipping companies) point 2.2.5.10, for details of the leasing restrictions. 

The offshore service rule 

A company that leases support vessels in petroleum activities on bareboat charter terms and does not satisfy the conditions under the operational leasing rule may satisfy the conditions for leasing under the offshore service rule in section 8-13, subsection 9, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata).  

Section 8-13-2 of FSFIN (Regulations to the Taxation Act) (Lovdata) contains a list of the types of vessels covered by the offshore service rule. 

The rule cannot be applied where vessels of other types are leased out on bareboat charter terms within the group of companies. The proportion of the group’s tonnage leased out on bareboat charter terms may not exceed 50 percent of the group’s total tonnage. 

The offshore service rule only applies where the lease period is no more than five years, with a possible extension of up to three years where an agreement includes an option to extend the period. The rule also only applies where the strategic management of the company leasing out the vessels is exercised by a company resident in an EEA state. 

Calculation of the proportion of tonnage leased out on bareboat charter terms

When calculating whether the group’s bareboat chartering is within the maximum limits, the calculation must be based on the total tonnage within the group that is leased out on bareboat charter terms.  

This bareboat chartering may account for no more than 40 percent or 50 percent respectively of the group’s total chartered-in and owned tonnage, calculated in accordance with section 8-13, subsection 7, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) 

The group includes Norwegian and foreign companies that constitute a group as at 31 December of the income year. The tonnage calculation only includes private limited companies and public limited companies within the group that are covered by the tonnage tax regime. Tonnage must be included in full even where the ownership interest in the company is less than 100 percent. Tonnage relating to chartered-in vessels is only included where the vessel is chartered in on bareboat charter terms and leased out on time charter or voyage charter terms, or where the vessel is chartered in on time charter or voyage charter terms and the leasing of the vessel forms part of the company’s activities relating to the sale of transport services. 

Section 8-13, subsection 7, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) contains rules governing the calculation. See also the guide Skatte-ABC under "Rederiselskaper" (Shipping companies) point 2.2.5.12.  

Time charter terms and voyage charter terms mean arrangements where neither the charterer nor a company within the same group as the charterer has assumed responsibility for crewing the vessel.  

The proportion of a group’s tonnage that is chartered in on time charter terms and voyage charter terms and is not EEA-registered may not exceed 90 percent of the group’s total tonnage.  

Tonnage chartered in or owned by companies within the group that are not covered by the tonnage tax regime must not be included, either in the chartered-in time charter or voyage charter tonnage, or in the total tonnage. Tonnage chartered in or owned by underlying companies taxed under the tonnage tax regime must also not be included if the underlying company does not belong to the group. 

Tonnage owned or chartered in by underlying businesses assessed as partnerships and NOKUS companies must only be included on a proportionate basis. This applies both when calculating total owned or chartered-in tonnage and when calculating chartered-in tonnage on time charter terms or voyage charter terms. 

When calculating the group’s total tonnage covered by the tonnage tax regime, any proportion of tonnage chartered in on bareboat charter terms and subsequently leased out again on bareboat charter terms must not be included. 

Within the tonnage tax regime, it is not possible to change the chosen method of taxation by submitting an amendment at a later date. This applies both to entry into and exit from the regime. Other matters may be amended in the usual way, for example financial income and tonnage tax. See section 9-4 of the Tax Administration Act (Lovdata). 

The tonnage tax regime does not apply to companies that are incorporated abroad but are tax resident in Norway.  

The tonnage tax regime applies to companies equivalent to Norwegian private limited companies or public limited companies that are resident in another EEA state. Such companies may only carry out permitted activities referred to in section 8-13 of the Taxation Act (Lovdata) and must be subject to limited tax liability in Norway under section 2-3, subsection 1, letter b, of the Taxation Act (Lovdata). 

For vessels, the taxable value is determined according to whether the vessel has a known or unknown acquisition cost, improvements, or contracts. This follows from the valuation rules, section 2-1-4, for valuations of vessels, fishing vessels, drilling vessels, etc.