Telephone and Internet

The enterprise may receive deductions for expenses related to electronic communications services.

Does this apply to me?

This applies to you if you run a business and have expenses related to electronic communications services.

What you need to do

You must enter provable expenses the enterprise has had in relation to buying and using electronic communications services in your accounts.

Deduction for expenses

The enterprise will receive deductions for all expenses related to electronic communications services. This applies to, for example:

  • subscriptions
  • broadband or mobile access to the Internet
  • buying telephones and other equipment
  • installation and setup costs

Direct deductions or depreciations when buying equipment

Electronic communications equipment that is primarily used in the business is a fixed asset that the enterprise can claim deductions for. How you enter the expense depends on the size of the amount and the expected lifetime.

What to do if you

The owner and their spouse must not be treated as employees. The enterprise must not report payments and employments in the a-melding.

The enterprise will receive deductions for expenses related to electronic communications services for commercial use, but not for private use. First, you must deduct all the expenses in the accounts. Private use will be automatically reversed and results in an additional income of up to NOK 4,392 each year.

If the total expenses for electronic communications services is lower, the additional income will equal the total expenses.

If you do not use electronic communications services privately, you must provide proof of this. This may be applicable if you have two mobile phone subscriptions.

The a-melding guide explains how an employer must report salary and other benefits, and what the tax consequences for the employee will be. Salary is, in this case, all remunerations subject to withholding tax as well as taxable benefits in kind.

 

Partners in SDFs are taxed for a standard, set benefit on private use of the enterprise’s electronic communications services.

The part that is considered private use will be treated as work remuneration or as distributions from the enterprise.

 

Tax liability for the employee

The employee must pay tax on the benefit of using the employer’s electronic communications services. The tax liability applies up to the threshold limit of NOK 4,392. This applies regardless of whether the employer reports the benefit as an expense allowance or as benefits in kind in the a-melding.

Exceptions:

A taxable benefit must not be calculated if the employee leaves the phone behind at work each day.

If the employee only has occasional access to private use of the employer’s electronic communications services, this is not taxable for the employee. The use cannot be more than 14 days throughout a 30-day period, and not more than 30 days in total each income year.

The employer can cover jointly invoiced goods and services up to and including NOK 1,000 without this becoming taxable for the employee.
Jointly invoiced goods and services are, for example, phone-paid services, over-priced SMS/MMS, software, downloading or streaming music, films and games.

The part of the jointly invoiced goods and services that exceeds NOK 1,000, and that is used privately, must be reported and taxed as salary in accordance with ordinary rules.

 

The general amount limit for tax-free gifts/donations in employment is NOK 5,000. The employer can give free telephone and Internet services as a tax-free gift to their employees. Tax-free gifts to employees are not reported in the a-melding.

Supporting documentation

You do not need to send us any documentation, but you must be able to present supporting documents for any expenses that you claim deductions for if we ask you to.