Bankruptcy
See what you can do if you’ve received a bankruptcy notice, have gone bankrupt, or if you have a salary deduction from an employer who has gone bankrupt.
I’ve received a bankruptcy notice
If you’ve received a bankruptcy notice from us, it’s important that you do what you can to avoid or reduce the consequences.
If you’ve received a bankruptcy notice, you must make sure to pay the claim if you can. You can find the payment information in the bankruptcy notice you’ve received, or by logging in to Altinn.
If you have not paid the claim by the deadline stated in the bankruptcy notice, the Tax Administration will consider asking the district court to open bankruptcy proceedings. See information about bankruptcy proceedings in the district court.
If you cannot pay immediately, you may apply for a payment agreement.
If you have information that may affect whether you may go bankrupt, for example that you have assets that the Tax Administration is not aware of, you should inform us.
It’s important that you treat all your creditors equally. For example, if you make payments to someone, but let others wait, such payments can be reversed during bankruptcy proceedings.
You can contact Nav for free financial advice and debt counselling.
The municipality's debt counselling service offers free guidance to residents who have financial problems.
I’m in bankruptcy proceedings
During bankruptcy proceedings, you lose the right to decide over your assets, and the district court appoints an administrator who’s responsible for the administration of the estate. Contact the administrator for information about your rights and obligations.
The Tax Administration will send an overview of our claims to the administrator. If there are funds in the estate, the administrator will distribute them to the creditors according to the priority and size of the claims.
You cannot apply for a payment agreement or a debt settlement while you’re undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.
When you go bankrupt, both you and the bankruptcy estate must submit tax returns, but for different circumstances:
- The bankruptcy estate must submit a tax return for income and capital belonging to the estate after the bankruptcy begins. This applies, for example, to income from the sale of assets in the estate.
- You must submit a tax return for income and wealth that is not included in the estate, and for the period before the bankruptcy proceedings begin. You must also provide information about any tax-free income that has been deducted from the estate.
When the bankruptcy proceedings are finished
You’re responsible for the debt that remains after the bankruptcy proceedings are finished. This means you must still pay what you owe.
Apply for a payment agreement or a debt settlement
After the bankruptcy proceedings are finished, you can apply to the Tax Administration for a payment agreement or to the enforcement officer for debt settlement under the public debt settlement scheme (politiet.no).
If your employer has gone bankrupt
Withholding tax
If your employer has deducted withholding tax from your income and goes bankrupt without having transferred the money to the Tax Administration, you must send us a copy of the payslips showing the deductions or other proof.
If you cannot prove that tax has been deducted from your salary, you risk underpaid tax.
If it’s difficult to prove the deduction, or if your employer has neither reported your income nor paid withholding tax to the Tax Administration, you must contact us.
Deductions from salary
If you have an attachment of earnings and your employer went bankrupt without transferring the money to the Tax Administration, you must contact us and send us a copy of your payslips showing that the deductions were made.