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Board and lodging - deduction rates

If you stay away from home overnight because of work, you may be entitled to an allowance for your extra expenses for food (subsistence) and accommodation (lodging) etc.

If you travel for work, but do not have to stay the night away from home, you may also have the right to claim deductions for extra expenses for food while travelling.

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.

The deduction rate is the same amount that you may receive as a tax-free expense allowance for board and lodging not subject to withholding tax.

Board (food)

On work journeys/business travel without overnight stays, extra expenses for food will be covered by the minimum standard deduction for wage earners. If you claim a deduction for actual costs instead of the minimum standard deduction, you can claim deductions for actual extra expenses for food (meaning not according to the deduction rates) on work journeys/business travel.

On work journeys/business travel with overnight stays away from home or commuter stays, deduction for extra expenses for food is given according to rates set by the Directorate of Taxes annually. It’s a condition for the deduction entitlement that you have covered the expenses for food yourself. In the case of travel involving overnight stays, it’s the place where you actually stay overnight (type of accommodation) that determines what you can deduct. In addition, the distinction between work-related travel and commuter travel can be of significance if the accommodation is a bedsit with cooking facilities or privat.

Lodging

You’re entitled to a deduction for your actual living expenses (rent, fixed expenses for commuter accommodation, etc.).


Food (Board)

The rates for additional expenses for food (board) depend on your type of accommodation.

Type of lodging Rate per day
Hotel with breakfast: NOK 526
Hotel without breakfast: NOK 658
Accommodation with cooking facilities (only when on business-/worktrips): NOK 102
Accommodation without cooking facilities: NOK 400

* Overnight stays at a guesthouse or a portacabin are considered accommodation without cooking facilities regardless of whether you are able to prepare food in the accommodation. For overnight stays in portacabins, this applies from 2023 onwards.

You can only use the rates if you cover the actual expenses for food yourself, without subsidies, etc. from your employer or other clients. The addition for savings on food expenses is included in all the rates above.

Lodging (accommodation)

Type of lodging Rate per day
Spend the night in your own caravan NOK 76 per day