Deductions for extra expenses if you work in Norway and your home is in another EEA country.

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. Use the commuter wizard to find out if this is an option for you.

How will the changes affect

family commuters

  • There is no required number of travels to claim the commuter deduction, provided your family continues to live in your shared home in the home country.
  • If you bring your family to Norway, you can also claim deductions for commuter expenses if you visit your residence in your home country. Generally, you must have at least 4 home visits per year to claim the deductions. If your home is in Sweden, Denmark or Finland, you must generally have 8 home visits.

single commuters

those who keep their homes in their home country and do not go on home visits

  • If you bring your family to Norway, or if you’re single, you may still deduct expenses for board, even if you do not go on home visits.
  • Read more about the conditions for such deductions in Skatte-ABC (in Norwegian only).

Other deductions

You cannot claim both the commuter deduction and the standard deduction. If you claimed the standard deduction for previous income years, you must consider whether it will be more profitable for you to claim the commuter deduction.

How to change the tax return for previous income years

If you meet the requirements to deduct commuter expenses, you can make changes to your tax return yourself. Do this by logging in and submitting a notification of change or by printing the notification and sending it to us by post.

You must make the changes no later than 3 years after the submission deadline for the tax return in the relevant income year. For earlier income years, you can send an appeal. 

You cannot make changes to your tax return yourself if you’ve already sent us a claim for deductions for extra expenses for board, lodging and travels, and then been denied this claim in a decision from the Tax Administration. In such cases, you must send us an appeal.

We can also advise you on how to proceed if you call us or contact us via chat or on Facebook.