About deduction for commuters
If you spend the night away from your home due to your work, you may have the right to deductions for the extra expenses you’ve had for board, lodging and home visits.
It is a condition that it is an additional expense and that it is not covered by your employer.
Changes in deduction rules for commuters
If your commuter accomodation has cooking facilities, you get no deductions for food expences of any sort.
As a commuter, you can deduct extra expenses for board (food and drink) when the commuter residence does not have cooking facilities, and for up to 24 months from the time you were first granted a deduction for these expenses.
The time limit of 24 months also applies to accommodation, which means that the right to deduct food and accommodation stops after 24 months, calculated from the time the deduction is first given.
The new rule took effect in 2020. The time limit of 24 months was calculated first from 1 January 2018. As a result, the right of deduction expires after 1 January 2020.
If you move to a new municipality for both your workplace and your commuter residence, the deduction can be claimed for a new 24-month period.
Kari works in Trondheim and lives in Oslo with her family. She started working in Trondheim on 1 January 2019 and claimed deductions for rent (lodging) for her commuter accomodation in Trondheim in the 2019 and 2020 tax return.
The 24-month period expired on 31 December 2020
Kari is not entitled to claim deductions for her expenses for lodging in the 2021 tax return or later because the 24-month period expired on 31 December 2020.
New job
On 1 March 2023, Kari started in her new job in Ålesund, where she acquired a new commuter accommodation. Because she changed both workplace and commuter accommodation to another municipality, she can again claim deductions for rent (lodging) in the 2023 tax return.
Do you live in another EEA country and work in Norway? If so, please note that the required number of home visits to claim a deduction for travel expenses, board and lodging was changed from 2018. You can also request that the changes be applied to previous years. Find out if this is an option for you.
Deductions for extra expenses if you work in Norway and your home is in another EEA country.
Check whether you are a commuter and which deductions you may be entitled to
The deduction is calculated on the basis of standard kilometre rates and distance travelled.
See current rates per kilometre travelled
Board and lodging
If your work requires you to spend the night away from your home , you may be entitled to deductions for your extra expenses for food (board) and accommodation (lodging), etc. You must enter the deduction in your tax return.
To claim a deduction for extra expenses for accomodation (lodging), you must have had full expenses for two households. The condition is met if you own your residential property where you live or have market rate expenses (markedsmessige kostnader) for a hired residential property where you live. Furthermore, it is a condition that your own housing unit where you live is not rented out fully or in part.
When you commute while living at home with your parents, you do not have additional expenses for accommodation (two households), and thus you are not entitled to deductions for accomodation.
Travel between your home and your permanent place of work
If you're only claiming a distance-based deduction using the kilometre rate, your maximum deduction is NOK 97,000. The deduction must be reduced by the NOK 14,400 base deduction, which will give a maximum deduction of NOK 82,600.
The deduction is calculated based on the travel distance and a set rate. The rate for 2023 is NOK 1.70 per kilometre. The amount may be pre-filled in your tax return based on the information from last year's tax return. You must enter the deduction in your tax return
Current rates for travel deductions
Calculate commuter deductions for home visits
Home visits
If you have to live away from your home in or outside Norway because of work, you may claim a deduction for your travel expenses between your commuter accommodation and your home for amounts exceeding NOK 14,400 and up to the maximum amount of NOK 97,000.
There is no deduction for travel expenses to your commuter accommodation for spouses, cohabiting partners or children. The deduction only applies to your travels.
You may also claim deductions for road tolls, ferries and tunnels. The deduction for these expenses in their entirety is given when the total exceeds NOK 3,300 per year. Costs for road tolls, ferries and tunnels are included in the maximum amount of NOK 97,000.
If you claim a deduction for ferry costs, you must make sure that the ferry route is not included in the route for which you're claiming the distance-based deduction.
Maximum deduction for travel for commuters within Norway and from other countries
The maximum annual deduction amount for travel to/from work and home visits is a total of NOK 97,000 before the base deduction of NOK 14,400. This gives an actual maximum deduction of NOK 82,600. The amount limit applies in total to travel to/from work and home visits both inside and outside the EEA. The maximum deduction also covers road toll and ferry costs, as well as any air travel costs.
For total travel distances exceeding 50,000 kilometres, deductions may be granted using the highest kilometre rate, providing the costs and travel distance can be documented. If documented expenses are lower than calculated deductions using the highest rate, deductions will be granted for documented expenses. Deductions may also be granted using the highest rate for total travel distances exceeding 50,000 kilometres, but only if the expenses and travel distance is documented. If documented expenses are lower than calculated deductions using the highest rate, deductions will be granted for documented expenses.
The rules for distance-based deduction do not apply to commuter trips to homes outside the EEA unless you can document the use of a private car for the trips. For commuter trips to homes outside the EEA, you may be granted deductions for documented expenses using other transportation methods.
If your employer has covered expenses for board, lodging or travel, you cannot claim deductions for these expenses at the same time.
Documentation requirements
You don't have to send us any documentation for this, but you must be able to present it if we ask to see it.
This will for example apply to documentation concerning:
- your journeys through tickets, receipts or similar, stating the route, date and your name.
- expenses for toll roads, ferries and/or air travel if you are claiming a deduction for these.