Working from home and tax

Here you'll find information about working from home, tax and deductions when you're employed and not at your usual workplace.

The deduction you receive for working from home is included in the minimum standard deduction, which is calculated automatically. For most people, it will not be profitable to claim deductions for actual expenses instead of the automatically-calculated minimum standard deduction. In most cases, this means that you do not receive extra deductions for expenses linked to working from home.

Equipment for the home office

With some reservations, your employer may cover the costs of necessary equipment without this having an impact on the amount of tax you pay.

A functional home office means having both a workplace (for example a desk and chair) and necessary equipment available at home. There are separate tax rules for certain necessities for the home office, for example telephone and internet access (NEK).

  • Your employer can both let you borrow and give you office equipment. In order for it to be tax-free, the main purpose must be home office use.

  • It's also possible to buy equipment for the home office yourself and have the expenses reimbursed by the employer. Again, in order for it to be tax-free, the main purpose must be home office use.

  • If your employer gives you money for you to buy equipment yourself, this will be taxable as salary. The exception is if you document to your employer what the money has been used for, and it's only equipment where the main purpose is for use at work. Any surplus from the money received will be taxable as salary.

  • Ongoing expenses for office supplies that are used exclusively for work purposes can be refunded without tax. This could apply, for example, to toner and paper for printers, writing pads, pens, etc.

Deductions for home office expenses

Expenses related to a room in your home that you exclusively use for working, such as rent, cleaning, electricity and insurance, may be deductible. The same applies to expenses for office furniture and other office equipment that's mainly used for the home office. An alternative to deductions for actual expenses is the standard amount, which is NOK 2,050 per year (2023 rate).

For most employees, deductions for these kinds of home office expenses will still be included in the minimum standard deduction. The minimum standard deduction is deducted automatically.

You must have expenses linked to work that exceed the minimum standard deduction in order for it to be profitable to claim deductions for actual expenses instead of the minimum standard deduction.

The minimum standard deduction for the 2023 income year is 46 percent of gross salary employment income, with an upper limit of NOK 104,450. This means that for most people, a separate deduction for home office expenses will not be applicable.

Food when working from home

You will not get a deduction for expenses for food, for example for lunch and overtime food, as these are considered private expenses. 

Travel to and from work

As you do not travel as much between your home and workplace, you do not get a deduction for this either.

If you usually have large travel or commuting expenses, the tax deduction you had on your tax card for the 2023 income year may not have taken into account that you ended up with fewer days of travel to/from work than usual. You may not have deducted enough tax for 2023. This may be one reason why you have underpaid tax for the 2023 income year.

You must fill in how many days you travelled between the home and the workplace in the tax return to ensure that you receive the correct deduction. You should also check your tax deduction card so you can enter the actual numbers that currently apply to you.

Deductions for job-related travel expenses is included in the minimum standard deduction.

For detailed information about working from home and taxes, you can read the Tax Administration’s statement of principle (available in Norwegian only).