Norway: local rules

The arm's length rule is in section 13-1 of the Tax Act (skatteloven). If a taxpayer's income or wealth is reduced because of a community of interest with another party, the tax authorities may set it by discretion as if the community of interest did not exist. For related parties in a treaty country, section 13-1(4) says the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines must be taken into account, and they should be used in other cases as far as they fit. If the other party is outside the EEA, a reduction is presumed to come from the community of interest unless the taxpayer shows otherwise. The reporting and documentation duties are in section 8-11 of the Tax Administration Act (skatteforvaltningsloven) and sections 8-11-1 to 8-11-16 of the Tax Administration Regulation.

Companies that file a tax return must report their transactions and balances with related parties in the tax return itself. This is a topic in the tax return called controlled transactions and balances. It replaced form RF-1123, which is no longer used from income year 2023. Reporting and documentation are not required if, in the income year, controlled transactions are worth under NOK 10 million and year end balances with related parties are under NOK 25 million (regulation 8-11-1). Above that, the company must prepare TP documentation for each tax period. It is handed over on request, within 45 days, and the 45 days count from the tax return deadline at the earliest. It must be kept for at least 10 years. Companies are exempt from the documentation duty if, together with related parties, they have fewer than 250 employees and either sales of at most NOK 400 million or a balance sheet total of at most NOK 350 million. This exemption does not apply to dealings with related parties in states where Norway cannot get information under a treaty. Skatteetaten says the documentation should be ready when the tax return is filed. The documentation can be in Norwegian, Swedish, Danish or English, and the EU Code of Conduct format is allowed. Norway has no separate master file deadline. Skatteetaten says a master file is needed where the local file does not cover the group information.

The law does not list pricing methods. The documentation must explain which method was used, why it was chosen, and how far it fits the methods in chapters II and III of the OECD Guidelines (regulation 8-11-10). It must also include a comparability analysis, but the tax office may accept the file without one if finding comparables is disproportionately hard or costly, and the company explains why (regulation 8-11-11). If no comparability analysis is included, the tax office can ask for one, and for a database search, with 60 to 90 days to deliver. One-off, small transactions outside the core business only need to be listed by type (regulation 8-11-13).

There is no fixed TP documentation penalty in the law. Skatteetaten can use a daily coercive fine (tvangsmulkt) if information is not given on time or has obvious errors, capped at 50 times the court fee (sktfvl. 14-1). If a TP adjustment follows from wrong or missing information in the tax return, additional tax (tilleggsskatt) is 20% of the tax benefit (sktfvl. 14-3 and 14-5), unless the conduct is excusable. For intent or gross negligence, increased additional tax of 20% or 40% of the evaded tax is added, so the total is 40% or 60% (sktfvl. 14-6).

The top-up tax act (suppleringsskatteloven) applies the income inclusion rule and a domestic top-up tax from income year 2024, for accounting years that begin after 31 December 2023. The UTPR (the tax distribution rule) applies from income year 2025, for accounting years that begin after 31 December 2024. Groups need consolidated revenue of at least EUR 750 million in two of the four preceding years. Norwegian group entities file a top-up tax information return (GIR) 15 months after the ultimate parent's year end, or 18 months for the first year in scope. If the GIR is filed abroad they send a notification with the same deadline. Entities that owe tax file a top-up tax return one month later (16 months, or 19 months for the first year), and the tax is due three weeks after that. No extension is possible. The first deadlines were 30 June 2026 for the GIR and 31 July 2026 for the return.

Norway has a country-by-country report for groups with consolidated income of at least NOK 6.5 billion, due 12 months after the accounting year end. Skatteetaten also offers advance pricing agreements and mutual agreement procedures. Company tax returns are due by the end of May of the year after the tax period, and one month of extra time, to 30 June, is available if the company applies before the deadline. Under sktfvl. 5-5 and the Courts of Justice Act section 149, a deadline that ends on a Saturday, Sunday, public holiday or 1 or 17 May moves to the next working day.