More than a million taxpayers in Norway had already eagerly checked their tax forms within hours of their release by tax authorities early Wednesday. The vast majority are due to receive refunds, often because they’d intentionally boosted withdrawals as part of a savings program.
April is “tax time” in Norway but filling out tax forms has become a relatively simple procedure. Most of them are already filled out by authorities since employers, banks and brokerages, for example, are required to have sent income and other financial information to Norway’s internal revenue service Skatteetaten in advance. Taxpayers themselves merely need to double-check the accuracy of everything filled out in advance (from income to interest and dividend payments, union dues, bank balances, assets or liabilities abroad) and add any other necessary financial information that can lead to further tax owed or deductions.
Skatteetaten estimates that around 2.8 million taxpayers in Norway will receive refunds this year while around 800,000 will have to pay more tax than what’s already been withheld. Another 700,000 are likely to come out even. The deadline for approving and filing the tax form (now called skattemelding) for employees and retirees is April 30, and May 31 for sole proprietors.
newsinenglish.no staff
