The tax return for beginners
Are you scared of checking your tax return? It's not as scary as you might think.
Here we'll help you get started and take you through the most common things you need to check before you submit your tax return.
Introduction
What is the tax return, and why do you need to check it?
The tax return is your overview of the income, deductions, wealth, and debt you had last year. When you've checked and submitted it, we'll see whether you paid the correct amount of tax during the year. When we're done, you’ll receive your tax assessment notice. If you've paid too much tax, you'll receive a refund. If you've paid too little tax, you must pay the amount you owe.
Pre-filled or not?
We know a lot about you, but not everything. You'll see that we've already filled in quite a lot of the fields in your tax return. We call this pre-filled information. You’ll need to fill in other things yourself. Continue reading, and we'll tell you about some of the most common things you need to check and what you may have to fill in.
Remember that the pre-filled information is usually correct. You still need to check that the amounts are correct.
The tax return, topic by topic
We'll now take you through the different topics you may find in your tax return.
Remember that your tax return will be different from other people's. If there's no pre-filled information for a topic, the topic will not appear in your tax return. But you can add information by scrolling to the bottom of the tax return and clicking on View all the information you can add. Then you'll see a list of everything you can add. You can filter the list by topic to make it easier to find what you need.
Employment, national insurance and pensions
If you've worked, you'll find your salary under this topic. You'll see the income for the entire year before tax was deducted. If your employer also saves towards your pension, you'll see an item called Premium for pension scheme and an amount. If you've received national insurance benefits during the year, you'll also find the total amount here.
Everyone with an income receives a minimum standard deduction that’s meant to cover expenses related to earning that income. If you've also travelled a long distance to get to work, you may receive a deduction for this.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you've received a salary from one or more employers, you'll find it here. The amount you see here is before tax is deducted from it.
It's important to remember that the holiday pay you received last year must be included in this year's tax return.
Is anything missing? If your income is incorrect, you should correct it. Remember that you also need to ask your employer to report the correct salary to us.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you receive a children's pension, you'll find it here in the tax return. We've pre-filled this, and you'll see who's paid the children's pension and how much you've received before tax.
If you receive a disability benefit, you'll find it here. You'll see who's paid the benefit and how much you've received before tax.
Is anything missing? If your children's pension or disability benefit is incorrect, you should correct it. Remember that you also need to ask your payer to report the correct amount to us.
Pre-filled: Yes
When your employer deducts money from your salary to save towards your pension in public or approved private pension schemes, this should be pre-filled in your tax return.
Is anything missing? If your employer has deducted pension savings from your salary, and this is not in your tax return, you should contact your employer.
Pre-filled: Yes
When you're over 18, you can enter into an agreement with a bank, a life insurance undertaking, a pension provider, or a management company for securities funds to save for your own pension. You can save up to NOK 25,000 each year, and you'll receive a deduction for the amount you save.
Is anything missing? Then you need to contact your provider and ask them to report the correct information to us.
Pre-filled: Yes
The minimum standard deduction is automatically calculated for everyone with income from work, pension or the like. The purpose of the minimum standard deduction is to cover expenses you've had related to earning this income, so you're guaranteed a deduction for them.
Examples of expenses the minimum standard deduction may cover include work clothes, specialist literature, and expenses you've had on a business trip without an overnight stay.
Bank, loans and insurance
Under this topic, you'll find your bank accounts, savings, and any loans you have. If you're saving in a BSU account, you'll receive a deduction for it. If you have loans you've started to repay, you'll receive a deduction for the interest you pay.
Pre-filled: Yes
Here you'll find the money you had in the bank at the end of last year, on 31 December. Throughout the year, you also earned interest that the bank has paid because you had money in the account. The bank reports both the amount you had in the account and the interest to us.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you're under 34 and have saved money in your BSU account, you'll receive a tax deduction. You'll find the amount you've saved on the card for BSU saving under this topic, but the deduction itself is in the summary at the bottom of the tax return.
Is anything missing? If you've saved money in your BSU account and the deduction is not in the summary, you’ll need to contact the bank so they can report it to us. You cannot fill in this information yourself.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you have loans, this will reduce your wealth. You'll also receive deductions for the interest you pay on your loan.
Have you taken out a loan together with someone else, such as your parents?
If you have loans with others that you've taken up jointly, the loan will be divided equally between you in the tax return. If you've entered into an agreement about who's responsible for the loan, you can divide the loan and interest in accordance with the agreement.
You’ll need to specify your share as a percentage, and anyone you’ve taken out a joint loan with must do the same in their tax return. Make sure that the total shares add up to 100 percent.
Read more about the division of loans and interest you have with others
Is anything missing? If loans and interest is missing, you’ll need to contact the bank so they can report it to us. You cannot fill in this information yourself.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you've bought a car or another vehicle and taken out a loan, the loan and the interest you pay must appear in your tax return.
Is anything missing? If loans and interest is missing, you’ll need to contact the bank so they can report it to us. You cannot fill in this information yourself.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you have a student loan, the total amount for the entire student loan will be stated here. Until you start repaying your student loan, only the loan amount will appear in your tax return. When you start repaying the student loan, the interest you've paid will also be pre-filled.
Is anything missing? If a loan or interest is missing, you’ll need to contact the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Lånekassen) so they can report it to us. You cannot fill in this information yourself.
Business
Have you started your own business? Or maybe you have a hobby that you've started to make money from, such as streaming, gaming, or being an influencer?
The income you receive from this counts as business income, and you’ll have to report both your income and expenses in your tax return.
Pre-filled: No
You need to provide information about the income and expenses you've had, as well as any equipment you've purchased. Search for business information in the tax return and add both your income and expenses.
Are you unsure whether what you're doing counts as business activity?
Housing and property
Under this topic, you'll find the things you own, such as an apartment or a car. The residential property or vehicle has its own taxable value. The taxable value is usually lower than what you'd get for the residential property if you sold it.
Pre-filled: Yes
Did you own the residential property last year? Then it should be included in your tax return. If the residential property is a new-build, we will not know its value and so we will not have pre-filled it. But if the residential property is not new, we'll have filled in the value for you. Among other things, we have used figures from Statistics Norway to calculate a market value for your residential property. This is how much your property is worth. Based on this value, we've calculated a taxable value.
Read more about the taxable value of residential properties and how to provide supporting documents
Pre-filled: Not in the first year of ownership
If you, for example, own a car, this must have a value in your tax return. In the first year you receive a tax return after buying the car, we will not have pre-filled anything. Then you need to find out what the car was worth when it was completely new and add this value yourself. We refer to this as list price as new. You can either check our overview of list prices or check with a car dealership.
If you no longer own the car, you must set the value of the car is to NOK you’re your tax return and let the Norwegian Public Roads Administration know that you're no longer the registered owner.
Is anything missing? If anything’s incorrect, you’ll need to correct it yourself.
Family and health
If you have children you care for and you've had expenses for a child day care centre, a childminder, or an after-school supervision scheme, you can receive a deduction for this.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you have one child, you can receive up to NOK 25,000 in deductions. If you have several children, you can receive up to NOK 15,000 extra for each additional child. You must have had expenses for, for example, a child day care centre or for someone looking after your child in order to receive the deduction. If your child has had a childminder, you can receive a deduction when you report the amount to the Tax Administration.
Child day care centres and schools report what you’ve paid directly to us, and we add the amount to your tax return. If both parents care for the child, we'll divide the deduction between you.
Is anything missing? If the amount is not pre-filled, you’ll need to contact the child day care centre or the after-school supervision scheme and ask them to report the information to us.
Read more about expenses for childcare
Finance
Do you own shares or cryptocurrency, or maybe you’re saving in a share savings account? This must be added to the tax return. If you’ve sold shares at a loss, you can claim a deduction for this.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you own shares, they'll be listed here with a taxable value. If the shares have done well during the year, you may have received dividends that should be in the tax return.
Have you sold shares? If you've sold shares during the year, you’ll pay tax on the gain if you've made money. If you've sold shares and lost money, you'll receive a deduction. Remember that if the value of the share has gone down, you will not have lost money until you sell.
Is anything missing? Most Norwegian shares and foreign shares listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange are pre-filled. If information about your shares is missing, you’ll need to add the correct information.
Read more about shares and securities funds in the tax return
Pre-filled: Yes
With a share savings account, you can buy and sell shares and equity funds tax-free as long as you do not withdraw money from the share savings account. If you've withdrawn money from your share savings account, you either pay tax on the gain or receive a deduction for lost money.
Is anything missing? Check that the information is correct, and contact your bank if you're unsure.
Pre-filled: No
If you have gains, losses, income, or wealth in cryptocurrency, you’ll need to add this to your tax return yourself. You can add a card for each cryptocurrency you own, or you can add the total amount for all cryptocurrencies in one card. Remember that you’ll then need to attach a document showing how you calculated the total.
How to calculate and report the wealth
Gifts and inheritance
If you've received gifts or an inheritance of NOK 100,000 or more, you do not have to pay tax on it, but you must let us know. If you’ve given gifts of more than NOK 500 to charitable organisations, you can claim a deduction for this.
Pre-filled: No
Have you received a gift or inheritance of NOK 100,000 or more during the year? You do not have to pay tax on it, but you must add the amount to the tax return.
When you add the amount, search for Gifts and inheritance and enter the amount there.
Pre-filled: Yes
If you’ve donated more than NOK 500 to a charitable organisation during the year, you can claim a deduction for this. The maximum amount for deductions is NOK 25,000.
Charitable organisations report the donations they get to us. You'll therefore find the amount you've donated in the tax return.
Is anything missing? Then you’ll need to contact the organisation you donated to and ask them to report the correct information to us. You cannot fill in this information yourself.
See the list of approved organisations for deductions for donations
Wrapping things up
You've now gone through all the different topics, and you've checked that the information is correct as well as added anything that was missing. You're almost ready to submit your tax return! Before you submit, you can see a preliminary calculation of your tax under Summary and tax calculation. This will show whether you'll receive a refund or whether you’ll have to pay underpaid tax.
Remember that the calculation is preliminary and can change based on information you add or information that's reported to us.
When will the money be paid? When do I have to pay?
When you submit your tax return, we’ll need to process it. When it's processed, you'll receive a tax assessment notice that tells you whether you'll get a refund or have to pay underpaid tax.
Unfortunately, we cannot say how long it will take before your tax assessment is ready or when the money will be paid. Some people receive their tax assessment notice early, while others have to wait a bit longer. Some things may cause the processing to take longer. Examples include being married, being selected for a random audit, not having added all the information we need, or having made a lot of changes or added attachments.
Is tax still difficult? We’d like to make it easier, but we need your help.
We hope this guide will make it a bit easier for you to check your tax return. If you still find it difficult, we'd like to hear from you.
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