How to Calculate Duties and Taxes on Imports to Norway

Norway charges VAT on every purchase from abroad: 25% on most goods and 15% on food, on the customs value plus duties and fees, with no low-value exemption since 1 January 2024. Goods under NOK 3,000 per item from a VOEC-registered shop have VAT collected at checkout and nothing more on arrival. Customs duty applies only to clothing and food, at rates set by product and origin.

• Valuation basis: CIF
• Tax base: Customs value (including transport to Norway, insurance and packaging) plus duties, special taxes and fees.
• VAT standard rate: 25%. 15% for foodstuffs. 12% covers services such as passenger transport, so it is rarely relevant to goods. Books and newspapers are VAT exempt.
• Reduced rates: 15%, 12%

VOEC: foreign shops and marketplaces register and collect Norwegian VAT on goods for private use under NOK 3,000 per item. Registration is mandatory once sales reach NOK 50,000. Food, restricted goods and excise goods stay outside and clear normally.

• Duty threshold set to null: the official pages give no value below which duty is waived outside VOEC. The NOK 350 limit in the old guide is not on any current page read.

Declarations go through TVINN. Digitoll is the digital advance notification of the transport and goods. From 1 March 2027, all declarations must be made before or at the border crossing, when the direct-driving scheme (direktekjøringsordningen) ends. If you import regularly, check that your representative or carrier is ready.

A VAT-registered business calculates import VAT itself and reports it on the VAT return, for all goods purchases whether for use or resale. The base is the statistical value on item 46 of the customs declaration, plus duties and taxes on item 47. The shipping date decides the period. The return uses these codes:

• 81 and 82: deductible and non-deductible goods at the high rate
• 83 and 84: deductible and non-deductible goods at the medium rate
• 85: zero rate, including temporary imports and re-imports

If you're not registered, you pay the carrier, Tolletaten or your customs credit. A private buyer must give an 11-digit national identity number on the declaration: if you'd rather not give it to the shop, give it directly to the carrier. A customs broker can handle the rest.

Norway isn't in the EU, so none of the EU's EUR 3 or EUR 2 charges apply here. Everything turns on VOEC, the VAT on E-Commerce scheme.

From a VOEC-registered shop or marketplace, for private use and under NOK 3,000 per item, you pay Norwegian VAT at the checkout at 25%, including on freight and other costs. A shipment can hold several items, as the limit is per item. The goods cross the border without further charges. Food, restricted goods such as medicines, weapons, alcohol and tobacco, and excise goods stay outside VOEC.

From any other shop, or for goods at NOK 3,000 or above, you pay when the goods enter Norway: VAT, any customs duty and any special taxes, and usually a clearance fee to the carrier. The customs value is what you paid for the goods plus insurance, packaging, commission and shipping. Tolletaten converts to kroner at weekly rates, normally the rate at clearance. VAT then goes on that value plus duties, special taxes and fees. Tolletaten has an import calculator, and the import duty calculator works too. Books and newspapers are VAT exempt.

1. Check VOEC first: is the shop registered, and is each item under NOK 3,000 and for private use? If so, 25% at checkout, and you’re done.
2. Check exclusions: food, supplements, restricted goods and excise goods can’t use VOEC.
3. Set the customs value: price, insurance, packaging, commission or royalties, and shipping, all in kroner.
4. Check duty: use the Norwegian Customs Tariff. Duty applies to clothing and food, on value or by weight. A trade agreement may reduce it.
5. Add special taxes: excise on alcohol, tobacco, sugar, chocolate and oil-based products goes to Skatteetaten.
6. Calculate VAT: 25%, or 15% on foodstuffs, on the value plus duties, taxes and fees.
7. Add the carrier’s clearance fee: it goes to the carrier, not to Tolletaten, so ask for the amount.

Rain jacket from a VOEC shop.

Nothing more is due on arrival.

Wool coat from a shop outside VOEC, duty rate assumed at 10% (check the Customs Tariff for your code and origin).

Food supplements, which can’t use VOEC, and we’ve treated them as foodstuffs and assumed no duty.

• Using the EU rules: Norway doesn’t charge the EUR 3 or EUR 2, and IOSS isn’t the Norwegian scheme. VOEC is.
• Thinking a low-value purchase is exempt: VAT has applied to all purchases since 1 January 2024.
• Assuming duty on all goods: only clothing and food carry it, though excise can apply on others.
• Buying supplements or vitamins through VOEC: they are foodstuffs and clear normally.
• Planning for post-arrival declarations: from 1 March 2027 all declarations must be made before or at border crossing.

Registration. Tolletaten's corporate guidance says shops and marketplaces must register once they reach NOK 50,000 of sales, and may register earlier. If you sell to Norway through VOEC, your carrier no longer needs to declare goods in TVINN or collect duty and taxes, provided shipment data reaches customs correctly.

The NOK 3,000 test is per item. Add ten NOK 400 items to a basket and they stay in VOEC, with 25% VAT on all of them and on the freight. One NOK 3,200 item doesn't.

Refunds. If you paid VAT twice on a VOEC purchase, you claim from the shop, not from the authorities. For a non-VOEC return, claim from Skatteetaten with evidence of payment and the return. No refund is paid under NOK 100.

Rates. 15% is for foodstuffs. 12% covers services such as passenger transport, so it's rarely relevant to goods. Books and newspapers are exempt.

The old limit. An old NOK 350 limit appears in older guides. It isn't on any current Tolletaten page we read, and VAT applies to all purchases from 1 January 2024. We found no general duty threshold, so we've assumed duty applies from the first krone where a duty rate exists. This page is guidance, not legal advice.