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If you have income and/or assets abroad that you have not previously reported to the Norwegian Tax Administration, you may avoid additional tax penalties by making use of the voluntary disclosure scheme (commonly referred to as tax amnesty). Here is how the process works.
What Is voluntary disclosure?
Voluntary disclosure—commonly referred to as tax amnesty—occurs when a taxpayer, on their own initiative, corrects or supplements information previously omitted or not taken into account by the tax authorities, thereby enabling the correct amount of tax to be assessed. Tax amnesty is not available if the disclosure is prompted by audit or control measures that have been or will be initiated by the tax authorities, or if the tax authorities amend the assessment based on information received from sources other than the taxpayer. In addition, a condition for obtaining tax amnesty is that the taxpayer provides complete and accurate information, including information regarding the origin of the income and/or assets.
What do you need to do?
The key requirement is to provide complete information regarding the assets and/or income in question, as well as details about their origin. The information must be submitted to the Norwegian Tax Administration using a dedicated voluntary disclosure form, together with relevant supporting documentation. The form is submitted through a message in Altinn.
As an alternative to using the disclosure form, a taxpayer may submit a letter to their local tax office or send a message through Altinn. In such cases, the submission should be clearly marked “Voluntary Disclosure” (“Frivillig retting”). Supporting documentation may be submitted subsequently.
What happens next?
If the conditions for voluntary disclosure are satisfied, the tax office will amend the relevant tax assessments and issue revised tax settlement notices. No additional tax penalties will be imposed. However, interest will be charged on the tax that should originally have been paid. The Norwegian Tax Administration will not report the matter to the police.
How many years can be reassessed?
The tax office may amend tax assessments going back up to ten years.
