Tax notice

In March/April each year, everyone who receives salary, pension or social security benefits receives a tax notice. It is an overview of your income, deductions, assets and debts. To be sure that you do not pay too much in tax, you must check that the information in the tax return is correct.

About the tax return

It is important to remember that even if your tax return is pre-filled, it is not necessarily fully completed. You may be entitled to deductions that are not pre-filled in the tax return.

Tax deductions are deductions are expenses that you can deduct from your income, so that you only pay tax on the profit. The more expenses you have, the less you will pay in tax. The tax authority has its own deduction supervisor you can use to see which deductions you may be entitled to.

The deadline for submitting the tax return is 30 April each year. If you discover errors or have received new or delayed information, you can still change and deliver even after the deadline.

Childcare costs - parental deduction

For whom?

If you have children aged 11 or younger at the end of 2022, you can get a deduction for childcare expenses.

If you have children with special needs who are 12 years of age or older, you can also get a deduction for childcare expenses. The condition is that the need must be particularly great and you must be able to show a certificate from a doctor, child protection or similar, if the Tax Agency asks for it.

What can you get a deduction for?

In practice, this means that you can get a deduction for these expenses:

• Kindergarten
• Daycare
• After-school program (SFO/AKS) and after-school program that is an alternative to the after-school program at primary school
• Driving to and from if this is a detour to work. It is the costs of the extra driving that give the right to a deduction. If you do not drive to your own job, you must calculate the costs for the entire journey.
• Additional travel expenses for transport to babysitters. Calculate this by entering the extra drive in the travel deduction calculator.
  - You use the same rate as for deductions for journeys between home and work. Rate for 2022 is 1.70 per km.
• Babysitter
• Payment for arranging childcare services
• Au pair

How much is the deduction?

The deduction is limited to NOK 25,000. for one child, and then NOK 15,000. for each child beyond one. The maximum deduction for two children is therefore NOK 40,000. and for three children NOK 55,000.

It is the number of children as of 31/12/2022 that determines the maximum deduction. If you have two children under the age of 12, the maximum limit is NOK 40,000, even if you only have deductible expenses for one of the children.

How is the deduction distributed between spouses/cohabitants with joint children?

The reported amount/deduction amount is automatically distributed equally between spouses/cohabitants with joint children.

Spouses/cohabitants with joint children have a joint maximum amount for deductions. They can distribute the deduction freely between them, but both must then change their tax returns.

NB! If the deduction leads to one of the spouses/cohabitants with common children receiving negative ordinary income (that the deductions exceed the income), you should transfer it to the one of you who has the highest income on this year's tax return. This is because the deduction cannot be carried over to the next year.

How is it entered in the tax return?

Pre-filled

The deduction must be pre-filled in your tax return. The sum is based on what has been reported in by the person you have paid to, so check that everything is correct.

Kindergartens and leisure facilities are obliged to report information on parents/guardians' costs for passports and childcare. If the costs are not pre-filled in the tax return, you can still claim a deduction, but you must be able to document the costs if the Tax Agency requests it.

Cash support does not reduce the deduction.

What documentation requirements does the Norwegian Tax Agency impose?

• For passport and care costs that are not filled in on the tax return, this must be documented with original vouchers where the name and address of the recipient must be stated.
• In the case of a claim for a deduction for passports and care of children aged 12 or older due to special care and nurturing, the need must be documented by a certificate from a doctor, child protection or similar.
• It is required that expenses that exceed NOK 10,000. on an annual basis, must be paid via bank or deduction from salary in order to be able to receive a deduction. Payment must be documented by bank statement or pay slip.

Special deduction for sickness expenses

If you have large costs due to illness or weakness, you may be entitled to a special deduction. On request, the illness or weakness must be documented with a medical certificate.

NB! The provision on special deductions for large illness costs has been repealed from and including the income year 2012, but transitional rules have been provided which phase out the special deduction which will apply until a new scheme is adopted.

To whom do the transitional rules apply?

The condition for receiving deductions under the transitional rules is that you have received special deductions for major illness expenses for the income years 2010 and 2011, you will also receive special deductions for the income years 2012 – 2022, provided that the conditions for special deductions are met.

For the income years 2013 – 2022, a special deduction for major illness costs must be granted with 67 % of the deductible costs. This reduction is done mechanically through the system at the time of determination. This means that you must enter 100 % of the deductible costs in your tax return.

You can read more about sickness expenses here.