Property tax for housing companies

The housing company (joint term for housing associations and housing cooperatives) is liable for the property tax and will receive a collective bill for all the residential properties in the company. 

Here the board in the housing company gets information on how to change the basis for property tax.

Important information

If the municipality uses the Tax Administration’s calculated market value as the basis for levying the property tax, the information comes from the unit holders’ tax returns.

The basis for the property tax in 2024 is obtained from the 2022 tax return.

Each unit holder can change their own tax return, or the housing company can appeal the basis for the levied property tax.

If the municipality is not using the Tax Administration’s basis when levying property tax, an appeal must be made to the municipality of the property to change the property tax basis.

Specific information if you

  • have the right or power of attorney to appeal the property tax on behalf of the whole housing company. 
    On the Brønnøysund Register Centre’s website, you can see who may sign an appeal or give a power of attorney for someone to appeal on behalf of the housing company.

Are you a unit holder and want to change the basis for property tax in your tax return?

What you need to do

There are two ways to change the basis when the municipality uses the Tax Administration’s calculated market value as their basis for levying the property tax.

The unit holder can change information in their tax return concerning:

  • housing type
  • primary area and
  • year of construction

If the calculated market value is too high, the unit holder can request that the residential property be valued at a documented market value. The unit holder must make the changes in the tax return themselves and enter the property’s market value.

When the unit holder changes information in their own tax return, it often results in a quicker change in the basis for property tax than when the housing company makes an appeal.

Changing the basis for property tax levied in 2024?

Then you must change the tax return for 2022. 

Changing the basis for property tax levied in 2023?

Then you must change the tax return for 2021. 

The municipality will have a new basis for calculating your property tax when the change has been made.

The housing company can send an appeal to the Tax Administration on the individual unit holder’s tax assessment if it affects the property tax.

On the Brønnøysund Register Centre’s website, you can see who may sign the appeal or give a power of attorney for someone to appeal on behalf of the housing company.

The housing company must submit a written appeal to the Tax Administration. There is no specific form available for this type of appeal.

The appeal must be reasoned and include the following information:

  • the year the appeal applies to
  • the date on which the housing company received the property tax notification
  • a copy of the property tax notification
  • the housing units for which the property tax basis is too high
    • if the property tax basis is based on incorrect primary area or type of property, the housing company must substantiate the correct information for each individual housing unit
    • if the basis is too high, the housing company must provide proof of the market value for each individual housing unit. Referring to a general market value of residential properties in the area is not sufficient.

The proof must be dated after 1 July in the income year for which you are claiming a reduction. 

The person who valued or gave an estimated value on your residential property must have inspected the property both inside and outside.

Valid proof:

  • a valuation from a qualified valuer, or
  • a valuation by an estate agent who is familiar with the district in which the residential property is located, or
  • observable market value - the price for which the property or a similar property in the same area has been sold. Proof of the observed market value could be a purchase contract or a similar document stating the sales price. By a similar residential property, we mean a building with a similar floor plan, size, standard, view, and light and noise conditions. Referring to a general market value of residential properties in the area is not sufficient.

The proven market value must include any share of joint debt the property may have at the time of the sale.

If the housing company’s appeal is fully or partly upheld, we’ll notify the unit holders in question of the changes this leads to in their tax assessments.

The municipality will receive a new basis for calculating property tax when the change has been made.

Important information

The property tax must be paid by the due date even if the housing company has submitted an appeal.

Specific information if you

Municipalities that have property tax may choose to use the Tax Administration’s calculated market value for residential properties or value their own properties.

  • You can check your property tax notification, or
  • You can check the municipality’s website to see where they obtain the property tax basis.

If the municipality is not using the Tax Administration’s basis, you must appeal to the municipality.

If you have questions in connection with a reduction in or the waiving of property tax, you must contact your municipality.

Calculated market value is obtained from the individual unit holder’s tax return.

We calculate the market value based on Statistics Norway’s information on the sale of residential properties. The residential property’s location, primary area, year of construction and type of housing are all taken into consideration.

If the owner of the residential property has claimed a reduction in the taxable value based on the proven market value, the proven market value is shown as the residential property’s calculated market value in the tax return. The proven market value is adjusted annually in accordance with the price trend.

The calculated market value for a residential property based on statistics from Statistics Norway can be too high if:

If the housing information about primary area, year of construction or type of property is incorrect, this can affect the property tax basis.

The property tax levied in 2024 is based on information in the unit holders’ tax returns for the 2022 income year.

If the calculated market value is too high, it may affect the property tax.

The property tax levied in 2024 is based on information in the unit holders’ tax returns for the 2022 income year.

The housing company is liable for the property tax and will receive a collective bill for the entire company.

The distribution of the costs among the unit holders depends on the regulations and stipulations in the housing company. Normally, the costs will be allocated according to a distribution formula based on the ratio between the values of the housing units.

If the calculated market value of the residential property is too high and the sale of the property is regulated, you must be able to provide proof of the value by way of regulations or other documentation confirming that the sale is regulated.

For price-regulated residential properties, the proven market value will be the maximum price for the housing unit as laid down in the articles of associations per 31 December in the year for which the basis for property tax is to be obtained. The proven market value must include the housing unit’s share of joint debt.

In 2020, the taxable value was set to 25 percent of the calculated market value for primary dwellings and 90 percent for secondary dwellings. If the owner claimed the residential property to be valued according to the market value, other rates applied.

For primary dwellings, the taxable value was set to 30 percent of the proven market value.

For secondary dwellings, the taxable value was set to 100 percent of the proven market value.

The property tax levied in 2022 is based on information in the unit holders’ tax returns for the 2020 income year and follows the regulations for 2020.

Primary dwelling

Any residential property owned and lived in by the unit holder at the end 2020 must not have a taxable value of more than 30 percent of the proven market value.

For the 2020 income year, the housing unit has a calculated market value of NOK 4,000,000 and a taxable value of NOK 1,000,000.

In 2021, this housing unit is sold for NOK 3,000,000 (NOK 2,500,000 + shared housing company debt of NOK 500,000).

At a purchase price of NOK 3,000,000, 30 percent of the documented market value amounts to NOK 900,000.

As NOK 900,000 is lower than the taxable value of NOK 1,000,000, you’re entitled to a reduction of the property tax basis to the purchase price of NOK 3,000,000.   

For the 2020 income year, the housing unit has a calculated market value of NOK 4,000,000 and a taxable value of 1,000,000.

In 2021, this housing unit is sold for NOK 3,500,000 (NOK 3,000,000 + shared housing company debt of NOK 500,000).

With a purchase price of NOK 3,500,000, 30 percent of the documented market value amounts to NOK 1,050,000.

As NOK 1,050,000 is higher than the taxable value of NOK 1,000,000, you’re not entitled to a reduction of the property tax basis.

Secondary dwelling

The taxable value of a residential property owned by, but not lived in by the unit holder at the end of the income year must not exceed 90 percent of the property’s proven sales value.
The taxable value of a residential property owned by, but not lived in by the unit holder at the end of the income year must not exceed the property’s proven sales value.

The calculated market value for the housing unit in the 2020 income year is NOK 4,000,000 and the taxable value is NOK 3,600,000.

In 2021, this housing unit is sold for NOK 3,500,000 (NOK 3,000,000 + shared housing company debt of NOK 500,000).

As the purchase price of NOK 3,500,000 is lower than the taxable value of NOK 3,600,000, you’re entitled to a reduction of the property tax basis to the purchase price of NOK 3,500,000. 

The calculated market value for the housing unit in the 2020 income year is NOK 4,000,000 and the taxable value is NOK 3,600,000.

In 2021, this housing unit is sold for NOK 3,700,000 (NOK 3,200,000 + shared housing company debt of NOK 500,000).

As the purchase price of NOK 3,700,000 is higher than the taxable value of NOK 3,600,000, you’re not entitled to a reduction of the property tax basis.