Here, you will find information on how your Norwegian business should deal with purchases made from foreign enterprises who are part of the VOEC scheme.

The VOEC scheme

The VOEC scheme is a simplified registration and reporting scheme for enterprises that are not domiciled in Norway and that offer goods and remotely deliverable services (including electronic communication services). In the simplified scheme, the enterprises can only calculate and pay VAT on sales made to private individuals (B2C). The scheme does not apply to sales to other businesses (B2B, business–to-business) in Norway.

A supplier can be take part in the simplified scheme even if it provides goods and services to private individuals (B2C, business-to-customer) as well as private businesses and public enterprises (B2B). 

What you need to do if VAT has been collected on a B2B transaction

We are aware that foreign online stores have collected VAT even on sales to Norwegian businesses.

• Contact the foreign online store and ask for a refund. This applies to the purchase of both goods and remotely deliverable services. Such cases are a matter between the purchaser and the online seller.

Neither Norwegian Customs nor the Tax Administration have a legal basis to refund duties in such cases. You cannot claim a deduction for this type of incorrectly charged value added tax.

The online stores have committed to following the rules in the VOEC scheme.  

Make sure to identify yourself as a business

You should identify yourself as a business in order to reduce the risk of being charged VAT twice.

• State your Norwegian organisation number 

If VAT is still being charged to your purchase and you need help identifying yourself as a Norwegian business, you can contact us.

Correcting VAT that has been charged twice

The seller must correct the error by reversing the original transaction, so the buyer gets the incorrectly charged VAT refunded. You can read more about this on Norwegian Customs' website.