Alcoholic beverage tax

Tax is levied on all alcoholic beverages containing more than 0.7 percent by volume of alcohol that are either imported into Norway or produced in Norway. Tax is also levied on beverage packaging.

About this excise duty

Rate for 2025

Spirits-based beverages 
in excess of 0.7 percent by volume  

NOK 9.03 per percent by volume per litre

Alcoholic beverages 
in excess of 0.7 up to and including 2.7 percent by volume 

NOK 3.64 per litre 

Alcoholic beverages 
in excess of 2.7 up to and including 3.7 percent by volume 

NOK 13.68 per litre 

Alcoholic beverages 
in excess of 3.7 up to and including 4.7 percent by volume 

NOK 23.68 per litre 

Alcoholic beverages 
in excess of 4.7 up to and including 22 percent by volume 

NOK 5.29 per volumepercent per litre

Reduced rate for small breweries

Small breweries pay a reduced rate on fermented alcoholic beverages that they produce. Fermented alcoholic beverages cover, among other, beer, cider and mead.

The reduced rate applies to fermented alcoholic beverages with an alcohol strength in excess of 3.7 up to and including 4.7 percent by volume.

By “small breweries”, we mean enterprises that

  • are financially and legally independent from other breweries and
  • that have an annual production of less than 500,000 litres of fermented alcoholic beverages with an alcohol strength in excess of 0.7 percent by volume.

Rate for small breweries in 2025:

  • NOK 18.94 per litre for volume up to and including 50,000 litres annually 
  • NOK 20.14 per litre for volume above 50,000 litres up to and including 100,000 litres annually 
  • NOK 21.32 per litre for volume above 100,000 litres up to and including 150,000 litres annually 
  • NOK 22.50 per litre for volume above 150,000 litres up to and including 200,000 litres annually 

 

Tax is also payable on beverage packaging.

See earlier years’ rates

There is an exemption from the alcoholic beverage tax for alcohol that will be used for technical, scientific or medicinal purposes. The alcohol must be made unsuitable for drinking or otherwise guaranteed against being used for drinking.

Read more about tax on technical ethyl alcohol and products containing ethyl alcohol.

If you are destroying goods, you must report it to the Tax Administration.

Alcoholic beverages may be used as animal feed instead of destroying the goods. This only applies on specific terms.

Report and pay

Enterprises that are registered as liable for excise duties must report their excise duties online. You do this in the excise tax return.

Reporting excise duties

 

Excise duty accounting enables you to find and document the proper calculation basis for the excise duty. You must report the calculation basis in the excise tax return.

Learn how you keep the excise duty accounts

 

When you’ve submitted an excise tax return, you’ll receive a response containing payment information.

 

Registration and permission

Enterprises that import or produce alcoholic beverages must register their enterprise as liable to pay excise duties.

Find out more about if your enterprise must be registered, how you do it and what information you must provide or document:

Register the enterprise as liable for excise duties

 

Enterprises that are neither manufacturers nor importers of alcoholic beverages but that want to sell alcoholic beverages as wholesalers must register to do so. 

The excise duties will in this case already be paid/reported to the Tax Administration by a manufacturer or importer.

You must submit an application to the Tax Administration. The application must include information about the storage facility and type of beverage. A police certificate must be attached to the application. 

Depending on what you will do, you may need different types of licenses:

  • a state production licence from the Norwegian Directorate of Health entitles you to carry on wholesaling of alcoholic beverages following registration with the Tax Administration.
  • a municipal retail licence entitles you to carry out production of beverages for sale.
  • a municipal licence to serve alcoholic beverages that entitles you to carry out production of beverages to be served in your own establishment.

The Norwegian Directorate of Health has information about how to apply for the different types of licenses (in Norwegian only)

 

Når du som jobber i kommunen trenger opplysninger for å vandelsvurdere de som søker bevilling, må du sende en forespørsel til Skatteetaten.

Slik går du frem for å be om opplysninger

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