VAT periods and deadlines – when is the VAT return due?
Most VAT-registered businesses file every two months, due on the 10th of the second month after the period – except the third period, which is due 31 August. Payment normally falls due the same day. The return has to be filed even where the amount is nil, and small businesses can apply to file just once a year.
The six ordinary deadlines
Period 1 (January–February): 10 April Period 2 (March–April): 10 June Period 3 (May–June): 31 August Period 4 (July–August): 10 October Period 5 (September–October): 10 December Period 6 (November–December): 10 February the following year Note period 3. It breaks the pattern and is due 31 August, not 10 August – it is the deadline most often missed. Where a deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, it moves to the next working day.
The payment deadline is normally the same
Where the business has VAT to pay, the amount normally falls due the same day the return is due. It is worth planning the cash position around that, not around when the return actually gets filed.
The return has to be filed even where the amount is nil
A registered business has to file a VAT return for every period it is covered by – including where it has had no turnover or VAT to pay. A nil return is not optional. A missing nil return attracts the same response as a missing return with an amount on it.
Some businesses file only once a year
Small businesses can on certain conditions get an annual period, with one return for the whole calendar year. The conditions, the application deadline and what happens if turnover exceeds the threshold are in The annual VAT return – when can you apply? The primary industries – agriculture, forestry, reindeer husbandry and fishing – follow their own rules and normally file annually.
What happens if the deadline is missed?
Where the return is not filed by the deadline, Skatteetaten can send a notice and a conditional decision on an enforcement fine. In 2026 the rate for a missing VAT return is NOK 672.50 per day, up to a maximum of NOK 67,250. Where the return is still missing, Skatteetaten can assess the VAT at its discretion. What to do once that has happened is covered where it belongs: Filed the VAT return late for the immediate situation, Enforcement fines from Skatteetaten for stopping the fine, and Discretionary assessment where Skatteetaten has set the figures itself. One thing is worth knowing in advance: where Skatteetaten has assessed VAT at its discretion because the return was missing, you should normally not send an ordinary appeal against the assessment. File the missing VAT return – it is then treated as an appeal against the decision.
Filed but not paid?
Then late-payment interest accrues, and the amount can go to collection. From 1 July 2026 the late-payment interest rate is 12.25% a year. Where the business cannot pay, it is better to file the return and make contact about the payment than to delay both – see Cannot pay tax and VAT
Found an error in an earlier return?
Errors should normally be corrected in the original period they relate to – not in the current one. The business can file an amended return itself for up to three years after the filing deadline for the return in question. Where the error is older than three years, the business can ask Skatteetaten to reopen the assessment. The ordinary deadline for the authorities to change an assessment is five years after the end of the tax period, but there are special rules. How a specific rate error is corrected is in Booked the wrong VAT rate. Whether the error can attract additional tax is covered in Additional tax and aggravated additional tax
The routine that holds
For most businesses the important routine is simple: close the VAT accounts every two months, reconcile before filing, and make sure both the return and the payment are in place by the deadline. How the VAT periods fall alongside the company's other deadlines is in The annual cycle for a Norwegian AS If someone else is to do the reporting itself, VAT and tax returns describes what we deliver. We handle the VAT returns, correct earlier periods and follow up where the business has received a notice or a decision from Skatteetaten.
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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.
More on value added tax
- VAT registration – when does a business have to register?
- VAT deductions – what can you reclaim?
- VAT on services to and from abroad – how do you invoice correctly?
- VAT on imported goods – how it works
- The VAT adjustment rules for real property – how do they work?
- Voluntary VAT registration for letting property – when is it possible?
- VAT exemptions for health, education and culture – what applies?
- The annual VAT return – when can you apply for an annual period?
- Bad debts – when can you recover the VAT?
- VAT on winding up and bankruptcy – what has to be settled?
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