Expense claims, subsistence and mileage – what can be paid free of withholding?
It depends on whether the travel is business travel or a private commute, how it is documented, and what rate is paid. The withholding-free mileage rate is NOK 3.50 per kilometre in 2026. Documented actual business expenses can normally be reimbursed free of withholding. Where you pay at a higher agreed rate, the excess is withholding-liable pay.
Business travel or commuting?
Travel between home and a fixed place of work is normally a private commute, not business driving. That is so even where the employee works late or takes work home. Business travel can include visits to customers, travel between places of work, travel to a non-fixed place of work, and qualifying course or conference travel. That line decides everything else, and it should be settled before the expense claim is written.
Actual reimbursement or a rate?
Documented actual business expenses can normally be reimbursed free of withholding against a receipt. Payment at a rate – mileage or subsistence – has to be compared with the withholding-free rates. Anything above becomes withholding-liable pay. For many businesses, actual reimbursement against receipts is the simplest route, precisely because it needs no rate assessment.
The state travel agreement is not a tax rate
This is the most important distinction in the whole topic. The state's rates govern what employees may be entitled to under an agreement or a collective agreement. The Directorate of Taxes' rates govern how much can be paid free of withholding. They are different figures, and the state's rates are normally higher. Where the business follows the state agreement, the difference between the agreed rate and the withholding-free rate has to be treated as withholding-liable pay – not as an expense reimbursement. The current state rates have to come from the agreement itself; they change independently of the tax rates.
Mileage in 2026
The withholding-free rate for using a private car on business travel is NOK 3.50 per kilometre. Where the employee drives 10,000 business kilometres, the business can pay NOK 35,000 free of withholding. Where more than the withholding-free rate is paid, the excess is withholding-liable and normally goes into the employer's contribution basis. Where the company is to own the car instead, the arithmetic is different – see Company car or private car
Board and lodging on overnight travel
On travel with an overnight stay it is where the employee actually stays that sets the withholding-free rate for extra food costs. The 2026 rates are: Hotel without breakfast: NOK 693 per day Hotel with breakfast: NOK 554 per day Guesthouse, barracks or accommodation without cooking facilities: NOK 400 per day Accommodation with cooking facilities: NOK 107 per day, and only on business travel Note that guesthouses and barracks count as accommodation without cooking facilities, regardless of whether cooking is in fact possible there.
Day trips without an overnight stay are treated differently
On business travel without an overnight stay, extra food costs are covered by the standard minimum deduction for employees. That means a day trip does not have the same rate-based withholding-free subsistence allowance as travel with an overnight stay. Where the employee is to be covered, documented actual extra costs are the route – and a deduction claimed in the tax return has to replace the minimum deduction. Where a business pays a fixed «subsistence» on day trips without checking this, it risks the whole amount being withholding-liable pay. Check the current rates and conditions with Skatteetaten before introducing such an arrangement.
Meal deductions
Where meals are covered by the employer or included in the price, the subsistence allowance is reduced: breakfast 20%, lunch 30%, dinner 50%. That is why the expense claim has to show which meals were covered – not just how many days the trip lasted.
The documentation requirements
For a subsistence allowance the claim should show the name, the date and time, the purpose, the destination or engagement, the type of accommodation, and which meals were covered. For mileage it needs the date, the route, the purpose and the number of kilometres. An expense claim without a purpose and a route is not sufficient documentation, even where the amount is right.
Reporting in the a-melding
A withholding-free mileage allowance still has to be reported as an expense allowance, even though no tax is withheld. Any withholding-liable excess is reported separately and normally goes into the employer's contribution basis – see Employer's national insurance contributions
Do not confuse this with the employee's travel deduction
The travel deduction in the tax return covers travel between home and work – the private commute. For 2026 the rate is NOK 1.90 per kilometre, with a lower threshold of NOK 12,000 and an upper limit of NOK 120,000. That is the employee's own deduction, not something the employer pays, and it must not be confused with the withholding-free mileage rate of NOK 3.50 for business driving. We handle expense claims and payroll reporting – see also A monthly checklist for the payroll run
Read more
This is general guidance, not advice on your specific case. Deadlines, rates and amounts change – always check the current rules, or get in touch with us.
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