Starting from January 2020, Norwegian businesses are mandated to produce an electronic SAF-T file for reporting their accounting details, which can be requested by the Norwegian tax authority, “Skatteetaten”. The SAF-T format enables exporting accounting data in XML form, intending to streamline tax compliance, enhance control procedures, and simplify external audits.
Businesses with a turnover of less than NOK 5 million are exempt from the obligation. Nonetheless, if such enterprises maintain digital accounting records, they must comply with the requirement. Only during an audit are businesses obligated to provide the SAF-T file to the Tax Administration if they are required to keep books.
SAF-T Financial has been revised and updated. New form (version name 1.30) is mandatory from 01.01.2025, but can be used immediately if desired. New form does not provide full backward compatibility due to the extent of changes. The old form (version 1.20) can still be used for previous years (fiscal year 2024 and earlier).
Norway’s SAF-T system consists of two parts: Financial (covering General Ledger, Customer and Supplier master data, Tax master data) and Cash Register (involving Locations, Cash register, Cash transactions). Businesses can submit data via an API link to ERPs or through a new portal called “Mine MVA-Meldinger”.
