Taxi (cab)

Below you'll find information on rules concerning the taxi business. Different rules apply depending on whether you're employed as a taxi driver or running your own taxi business.

  • A taxi business must have a taxi licence. This means that anyone who wishes to run a taxi business must meet the requirements for good conduct, register the enterprise in the Brønnøysund Register Centre and document sound finances.
  • The vehicle must have a taximeter. The vehicle does not need to be connected to a taxi central.
  • The driver must have a valid Passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) driver’s licence.
  • The vehicle must be registered as a taxi in the Register of Motor Vehicles.
  • The vehicle must pass a mandatory roadworthiness test (EU inspection) annually.

New taxi regulations were introduced 1 November 2020. They will make it easier to get started in the taxi business.

Different rules apply depending on whether you're employed as a taxi driver or  running your own taxi business.

Employees in a taxi business must meet the following requirements:

  • You must have a valid Passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) driver’s licence. Applications for a PVC driver’s licenceare processed by the applicant’s local police district. If you're a foreign citizen, residence requirements may apply. The Norwegian Tax Administration can’t give you any further information about PCV driver’s licences. You must contact your local police district for more information.
  • You must pass the taxi drivers’ theoretical and practical tests before you can apply for a PCV driver’s licence. Contact the Norwegian Public Roads Administrationfor more information.
  • You must be at least 20 years old, and you must have had a driving licence for at least two consecutive years.

As an employee, you must change your tax deduction card to reflect your new expected income. Employers obtain your tax deduction card electronically. The taxi business must have a taxi licence, while the taxi driver must have a valid Passenger carrying vehicle (PCV) driver’s licence. If you’re unsure of the information your employer has sent us, you can go to my income and employments. If you find any errors, here or in your tax return, you must contact your employer or the organisation that submitted the information. Only the organisation that submitted the information can correct it.

If you want to run a taxi business, you must have a taxi licence and be self-employed. When you're self-employed, you can choose to start a private limited liability company (AS) or a sole proprietorship. You should check which legal structure is the right one for you.

Taxi licence - requirements

Enterprises running a taxi business must have a taxi licence. The county where the enterprise is registered will process applications for licences and provide further information about licencing rules.

Only enterprises and intermediary agents of taxi services (for example via mobile apps) must apply for a taxi licence. Employees in a taxi business do not need to apply for a taxi licence.

Taximeter

When you provide taxi services and the customer pays immediately using cash, payment cards or mobile payment solutions (such as Vipps), it’s considered a cash sale. Cash sales must be registered using a taximeter according to section  8-2-1 of the Regulations relating to Bookkeeping.

Section 8-2-3 of the Regulations relating to Bookkeeping sets out specific requirements to the documentation of cash sales in the taxi sector. The provision states:

The cash sales shall be documented by way of shift slips and taximeter reports that show each sales transaction, cf. § 8-2-2. The shift slips shall be numbered consecutively by the system and include the license number and the serial number of the taximeter.

See the statement of principles from the Directorate of Taxes regarding documentation requirements for cash sales in the taxi sector (in Norwegian only).

Your tasks, duties and other requirements

All businesses has a bookkeeping obligation and must document income and expenses.

All income from driving a taxi is taxable and you must report it in the tax return for businesses.

As a self-employed person running a business you must submit the tax return and information about the business online by the deadline, which is 31 May (the year following the income year). You cannot make use of the submission exemption arrangement.

If you run a sole proprietorship, you must submit the tax return with business information (or a tax return with income statement 1 and RF-1223 Drosje- og godstransportnæring (Taxi and logistics businesses, in Norwegian only) if you’re submitting the tax return in the old format).

See how you submit the new tax return with business information

If you run a private limited liability company (AS), you must submit a tax return for private limited companies with all the required forms/attachments.

If you run a sole proprietorship, you might be entitled to various deductions.

The deduction tool for sole proprietorships shows the most common expenses that your sole proprietorship may be entitled to claim as deductions in the tax return or income statement/Business Tax Return.

Different rules apply for deductions depending on whether the vehicle is used only as a taxi or if it is used both privately and as a taxi.

Anyone exceeding NOK 50,000 in turnover during 12 months must register in the VAT Register. Transportation is a vatable service with a reduced rate.

If your enterprise has employees, you must ensure that:

Individual drivers employed by the enterprise do not need a taxi licence.

Read more about employers’ obligations. The Tax Administration also has helpful courses and movies for new businesses.

All vehicles used as taxis must:

  • Be registered as a taxi in the Register of Motor Vehicles
  • Have a cash register system
  • Pass a mandatory roadworthiness test (EU inspection) every year

Buy or import a vehicle for use as a taxi

When you buy or import a taxi buss, you can get a reduction in the one-off registration tax. Previously this also applied to taxis, but it now only applies to taxi busses. If you stop using the vehicle before the three-year period has elapsed, you'll have to pay the remaining one-off registration tax. You must then notify the Tax Administration.

From 2021, taxi service intermediaries must report information to the Tax Administration.

Intermediaries can be taxi centrals, digital service intermediaries (for example mobile applications) or similar units organising taxi transportation. The duty of disclosure applies to any intermediary of taxi services conducted in Norway, regardless of the location of the intermediary.

Here you can read about deadlines and what information must be reported.