Norway: VAT Return Changes 2022

As you may have read in our previous newsletter, as of 1 January 2022 a new digital SAF-T code-based VAT return will be introduced in Norway.

At the moment, the kick-off deadline seems to be strict, but the good news is that January – February 2022 will be the first period of applying the new return. Consequently, the ‘extended’ deadline of the applicability of the new rule will be 10 April, which is the due date of return.

More detailed information will be required to be sent to the Tax Authority. Businesses and advisors are encouraged to deliver the VAT return directly from their ERP system. In this regard, the tax authority will be working closely with the ERP providers to facilitate the development of the direct report functionality. The testing phase has already started and partial results and dialogues are available on the tax administration’s website.

For submission purposes, the tax administration is developing a portal for companies that do not use any ERP or they use one that does not have the direct reporting functionality. According to the tax authority’s, the submitted information will be easily reachable through the new platform. Furthermore, it provides new opportunities for guidance and dialog through validation before submission. From tax administration side, no transition period is planned in relation to VAT submission. For safety reasons, the current platform Altinn, will remain available for data exchange purposes.

The new return will facilitate corrective amendments too. In the future, it will be sufficient to amend the data in the ERP system and submit a new return based on the updated data. The latest return will replace the older ones automatically, without the risk of manual changes. Consequently, once a proper mapping is in place and the reporting system is updated, the supplementary returns will no longer be in use.

The new return will be more flexible by implementing a ‘code-based’ approach replacing the current ‘form-based’ one. As there are 30 VAT codes, the structure of the new reporting will provide a more detailed picture for the tax authority, without having any impact on the aggregated level of figures entered in the VAT return. As the new report is still not a transaction-level VAT return, the Norwegian government considers the implementation of a new type of sales and purchase report. At this time, it is still at a stage of proposal and currently under review of the Ministry of Finance.

According to the proposal, the reporting obligation will apply for single transactions, and include the invoice number, information regarding the business parties, document date and information on transaction value. The Tax Authority’s intention with the new reporting obligation is to enable a reflection of transactions in economic context.

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