SAF-T requirements in Norway - Who are comprised by the obligation?
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SAF-T comes into force in Norway starting from the 1 of January 2020. Norway's tax blog will keep you updated on SAF-T through a series of blog posts. In this blog post we are considering who is covered by the requirement to report in a SAF-T format.
As we have blogged about earlier, in cases of control by the tax authorities, companies are required to deliver their accounting data in an xml. (SAF-T) format. We have also further information on our web page.
Who is covered by the SAF-T reporting requirements?
Businesses that are obliged to keep books in Norway, are required to report in a SAF-T format to the tax authorities.
Who are required to report their accounting data?
- Anyone who has a bookkeeping duty
- Anyone who does business and has a duty to provide tax returns for property and income tax, etc.
- Anyone who is obliged to submit a tax return for VAT.
Those who keep their accounts available electronically, are responsible to report in a SAF-T format.
For branches of foreign enterprises, it will be compulsory to report in SAF-T format if, for example, the company is registered for VAT in Norway, cf. the list above. Only activities conducted in Norway will be covered by the obligation to report in SAF-T format.
Exceptions to the rule:
VOES
Providers of electronic services delivered to Norwegian consumers are covered by a simplified VAT registration, called VOES. These operators submit their own tax return for value added tax. These operators are not covered by the requirement to provide accourning data in a SAF-T format to the tax authorities.
Reported turnover below NOK 5m annually
For companies with a turnover below NOK 5m per year, it is not mandatory to keep the books electronically. Companies that do not hold their books electronically, will not be obliged to report in a SAF-T format. Based on my experience, however, most companies record their accounting data in an accounting system, and will, therefore, keep the accounts electronically, and are thus required to deliver the documentation in a SAF-T format.
A company can report their turnover in e.g. Excel if the company has few transactions (less than 600 vouchers). In practice, this means that anyone who has an accounting duty for less than NOK 5m in sales, must have an accounting system if the company acquires more than 600 vouchers. As a result, there will be very few companies that are not covered by the reporting requirement from 1 January 2020.
Marit Barth
Jeg heter Marit Barth, og er partner/advokat i Advokatfirmaet PwC. Jeg har jobbet med mva for næringsdrivende og selskaper siden 2003 og har lyst til å blogge om mine erfaringer på dette området. Mitt mål er å gi deg informasjon, analyser og nyheter på en annen måte enn det du får gjennom nyhetsbrev og annen faginformasjon. Jeg håper også at jeg noen ganger klarer å inspirere deg, utfordre deg og kanskje provosere deg litt. Hvis du har synspunkter, innspill, kommentarer eller spørsmål til noe du leser eller ser her på bloggen blir jeg glad for å høre fra deg.
Velkommen til #norgesskatteblogg.
My name is Marit Barth and I am a lawyer and partner in PwC Tax & Legal Services. I have been working with VAT since 2003, and I would like to blog about my experiences in this area. My goal is to give you information, analyses and news in a different way than you get through newsletters. I also hope that I sometimes manage to inspire you. If you have input, comments or questions to something you read, I will be happy to hear from you.
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