Norway MVA Return Skill (MVA-melding) v2.0

Section 1 — Quick reference

Field	Value
Country	Norway (Norge)
Tax name	MVA (Merverdiavgift)
Standard rate	25%
Reduced rates	15% (food and non-alcoholic beverages), 12% (passenger transport, accommodation, cinema, broadcasting, sports events, amusement parks)
Zero rate	Exports, international transport, newspapers, electric vehicles (until phase-out), certain services to foreign ships/aircraft
Exempt supplies	Financial services, insurance, medical, education, residential rental, cultural events (selected), immovable property (with option to tax)
Return form	MVA-melding
Filing portal	https://www.altinn.no
Authority	Skatteetaten (Norwegian Tax Administration)
Currency	NOK
Filing frequency	Bi-monthly (standard: Jan-Feb, Mar-Apr, etc.), annual (turnover < NOK 1M), weekly (primary industries)
Deadline	1 month 10 days after period end (e.g., Jan-Feb due 10 April)
Registration threshold	NOK 50,000 in 12 months
Contributor	Open Accountants Skills Registry
Validated by	Pending

Key jurisdictional note: Norway is NOT in the EU. No intra-community supplies. No VIES. All goods from EU/non-EU are imports. Services from abroad are reverse-charged.

MVA-melding post codes:

Post	Meaning
1	Domestic sales and withdrawals at 25%
2	Domestic sales and withdrawals at 15%
3	Domestic sales and withdrawals at 12%
4	Zero-rated domestic sales
5	Exempt sales
6	Export sales
7	Purchases from abroad (reverse charge) — basis
8	Purchases from abroad (reverse charge) — MVA
9	Import of goods — basis
10	Import of goods — MVA
11	Domestic purchases at 25% — deductible input MVA
12	Domestic purchases at 15% — deductible input MVA
13	Domestic purchases at 12% — deductible input MVA
14	Input MVA on imports (post 10 deductible amount)

Conservative defaults:

Ambiguity	Default
Unknown rate	25%
Unknown purchase status	Not deductible
Unknown counterparty	Domestic Norway
Unknown business-use	0%
Unknown blocked status	Blocked

Red flag thresholds:

Threshold	Value
HIGH single-transaction	NOK 50,000
HIGH tax-delta	NOK 5,000
MEDIUM concentration	>40%
MEDIUM defaults	>4
LOW net position	NOK 100,000

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Section 2 — Required inputs and refusal catalogue

Required inputs

Minimum viable — bank statement. Banks: DNB, Nordea, SpareBank 1, Handelsbanken, Danske Bank.

Refusal catalogue

R-NO-1 — Below threshold. Trigger: turnover < NOK 50,000. Message: "Below registration threshold."

R-NO-2 — Partial deduction. Trigger: mixed taxable/exempt. Message: "Apportionment required per mval. § 8-2. Flag."

R-NO-3 — Fellesregistrering (group registration). Trigger: VAT group. Message: "Group registration requires specialist. Escalate."

R-NO-4 — Svalbard supplies. Trigger: supplies to/from Svalbard. Message: "Svalbard is outside MVA territory. Specialist rules."

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Section 3 — Supplier pattern library

3.1 Banks

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
DNB, NORDEA, SPAREBANK 1, HANDELSBANKEN	EXCLUDE	Financial service exempt
RENTER, GEBYRER	EXCLUDE	Interest/fees exempt

3.2 Government

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
SKATTEETATEN	EXCLUDE	Tax payment
NAV	EXCLUDE	Social security
BRØNNØYSUNDREGISTRENE	EXCLUDE	Company registry

3.3 Utilities

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
HAFSLUND, STATKRAFT, FJORDKRAFT	Domestic 25%	Electricity
TELENOR, TELIA, ICE	Domestic 25%	Telecoms

3.4 SaaS from abroad (reverse charge — all foreign suppliers, EU and non-EU alike)

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
GOOGLE, MICROSOFT, ADOBE, META	Reverse charge 25% (post 7/8)	Norway treats EU same as non-EU
ZOOM, SLACK, NOTION, ANTHROPIC, OPENAI	Reverse charge 25% (post 7/8)	Same
AWS, STRIPE, ATLASSIAN	Reverse charge 25% (post 7/8)	Even if billed from EU

3.5 Food

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
REMA 1000, KIWI, MENY, COOP, BUNNPRIS	Domestic 15% for food	Default BLOCK as personal provisioning
RESTAURANT	Domestic 25% (restaurant service)	Entertainment: limited deductibility

3.6 Internal transfers

Pattern	Treatment	Notes
OVERFØRING EGEN KONTO	EXCLUDE
LØNN, SALARY	EXCLUDE

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Section 4 — Worked examples

Example 1 — Foreign SaaS reverse charge (treats EU and non-EU same)

Input: GOOGLE IRELAND ; DEBIT ; NOK 8,500 Treatment: Reverse charge at 25%. Post 7 = NOK 8,500. Post 8 = NOK 2,125. Input deductible. Net zero.

Example 2 — Food purchase at 15%

Input: REMA 1000 ; DEBIT ; NOK 1,150 Treatment: Food at 15%. Default BLOCK as personal unless business (hospitality).

Example 3 — Export

Input: UK BUYER LTD ; CREDIT ; NOK 100,000 Treatment: Post 6. Zero-rated. Full input recovery.

Example 4 — Accommodation at 12%

Input: HOTEL BRISTOL ; DEBIT ; NOK 2,240 Treatment: Accommodation 12%. Net = 2,000. MVA = 240. Post 13 for input.

Example 5 — Entertainment

Input: RESTAURANT MAAEMO ; DEBIT ; NOK 5,000 Treatment: Entertainment. Limited deductibility. Conservative default: 0%.

Example 6 — Import of goods

Input: CUSTOMS — import machinery ; DEBIT ; NOK 500,000 + MVA NOK 125,000 Treatment: Post 9 = 500,000. Post 10 = 125,000. Post 14 = 125,000 (deductible).

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Section 5 — Tier 1 classification rules (compressed)

5.1 Standard rate 25% (mval. § 5-1)

5.2 Reduced rate 15% — food and non-alcoholic beverages (§ 5-2)

5.3 Reduced rate 12% — transport, accommodation, cinema, broadcasting, sports (§ 5-3)

5.4 Zero rate — exports, international transport, newspapers, electric vehicles

5.5 Exempt — financial, insurance, medical, education, residential rental, cultural (selected)

5.6 Reverse charge — ALL services from abroad (EU and non-EU alike, mval. § 3-30, § 11-3)

5.7 Import of goods — MVA at customs or via postponed accounting

5.8 Blocked — entertainment, personal use, vehicle (limited)

5.9 Norway-EU: no intra-community. EU goods = imports.

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Section 6 — Tier 2 catalogue (compressed)

6.1 Vehicle costs — limited recovery, flag

6.2 Voluntary registration — for otherwise exempt activities (property), flag

6.3 Mixed-use — apportionment, flag

6.4 Primary industries — weekly filing, flag

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Section 7 — Excel working paper template

Standard layout. Column H accepts MVA-melding post codes.

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Section 8 — Bank statement reading guide

Format: DNB/Nordea CSV, DD.MM.YYYY, NOK. Language: Norwegian (Bokmal/Nynorsk). All foreign suppliers: Reverse charge regardless of EU/non-EU origin.

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Section 9 — Onboarding fallback

9.1 MVA number — "Norwegian org.nr. + MVA suffix?"

9.2 Filing frequency — bi-monthly (standard)

9.3 Prior credit — always ask

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Section 10 — Reference material

Sources

1. Merverdiavgiftsloven (mval.) LOV-2009-06-19-58
2. Merverdiavgiftsforskriften (fmva.)
3. Altinn — https://www.altinn.no

Change log

• v2.0 (April 2026): Full rewrite to 10-section architecture.
• v1.0: Initial skill.

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Disclaimer

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