Tax deductions

You can lose thousands by not checking your tax return

The tax return is sent out this year between 7. and 22. March. Did you know that almost 10% of the population does not check their tax return?
This is particularly important for homeowners, as there are no new ones that have been filled in in advance. Check your property value and look for deductions!

The tax value of your home, also known as the assessed value, is the tax value of your property. In several municipalities, it also affects property tax. From 2023, wealth tax will be higher for homes worth more than NOK 10 million.

For the home you live in, the tax value must be 25 percent of the market value for homes worth less than NOK 10 million. This value is based on the size of the property and the current property values in the local area. However, this can lead to certain inaccuracies.

In the case of homes with a value exceeding NOK 10 million, the value exceeding this limit is taxed at 70 percent of the actual value. This may be one of the reasons why the tax value has increased. Calculating the capital value of your home can be found here.

Record number of refinancing in 2023

It is not always correct what is submitted automatically, there can be both deficiencies and data errors which are the reasons for this. In any case, it is your responsibility that the information is correct when you approve the tax return.

An example is a deduction for costs associated with establishing or refinancing a loan. Here, you are entitled to a deduction for the costs you incurred in taking out a new mortgage or refinancing an existing loan. You can get a deduction for what you have paid in debt interest, interest on late payment and/or interest benefit from a reasonable loan from your employer. In 2023, there were many interest rate hikes and many people switched banks to get better terms, which provides a basis for deductions.

Important change from this year, distribution of loans and interest:

If you have a loan with someone else, such as a spouse or parents, you should check that the loan and interest are correctly divided between you in your tax deduction card and tax return. The Norwegian Tax Administration’s website states that the loan is automatically divided equally between the borrowers in the tax return. If the distribution is incorrect, it must be changed. Previously, only the main borrower received all loans and interest on loans on their tax return.

For many, this will be a more appropriate distribution, but perhaps not in cases where parents are co-borrowers with children, but the child actually pays all the monthly costs.

Read mores more on the Norwegian Tax Administration about how to allocate this.

You can claim a tax deduction for:

• costs for taking out a loan, including establishment fees.
• costs in connection with refinancing a loan to obtain a lower interest rate, including costs for an appraiser.
• fees to housing associations related to special repayment of IN loans (joint debt with individual repayment)
• interest on loans from the employer and from private lenders (for example family members)
• paid late interest on debt interest, and interest and costs on credit purchases
• interest on loans abroad

You cannot claim a tax deduction for:

• interest that is due, but which you have not paid by the end of the due year (unless they are included in activities subject to bookkeeping). Such interest is only deducted for the year in which you pay it. Also for student loans in Lånekassen, deductions are only given for interest that has been paid.
• debt collection fees and costs in connection with debt collection.
• interest surcharge on tax arrears (does not apply to late payment interest).

If you change, delete or add information about debt interest, you must be able to document this with an annual statement or confirmation from the credit institution. You do not need to attach the confirmation, but you must be able to show it if the tax authorities ask for it.