Property tax

Property tax

Property tax is a municipality tax that each individual municipality drafts in accordance to the property tax law of June 1975 no. 29 (eigedomsskattelova , only available in Norwegian). According to the law, it is the municipal council that decides whether to impose property taxes in the municipality.

Different areas of taxation

According to the property tax law, the municipal council has the option to impose property taxes in one of 7 alternative areas. These 7 areas are different combinations of areas with mills and factories, areas build in a city-wise manner or in the municipality as a whole.

Property tax rate

The property tax law §§ 11 to 13 regulates which tax rate the municipalities can use when drafting the property taxes.

Property tax revenue

The municipalities property tax revenues are collected from the municipalities operating account. The property tax revenue is given separately for revenues from property tax on dwellings and recreational properties and revenues from property tax on other types of properties, typically commercial property.

Codelist for property tax area in the municipalities

Classification of municipalities

Codelist for KOSTRA - municipality-groups

Codelist for municipalities in each KOSTRA - municipality-group

Statistics Norway has classified the municipalities into 17 categories, by number of inhabitants and economic external conditions.

Codelist for KOSTRA counties authority division

Name: Property tax
Topic: Public sector

Division for Public Finance

Figures are published for all the municipalities including the average figures for municipality groups, county municipalities and the country with and without Oslo.

Annual. Figures for property tax accounts are published the year after the other figures concerning property tax.

Preliminary figures publication is 15. March in KOSTRA.
Audited figures publication is 15. June in KOSTRA.

Not relevant.

Collected and revised data are stored securely by Statistics Norway in compliance with applicable legislation on data processing.

Statistics Norway can grant access to the source data (de-identified or anonymised microdata) on which the statistics are based, for researchers and public authorities for the purposes of preparing statistical results and analyses. Access can be granted upon application and subject to conditions. Refer to the details about this at Access to data from Statistics Norway.

The statistics give a detailed overview of the municipalities revenues from property tax. It also shows the extent and use of property tax in the municipalities both over time and by comparisons among the municipalities and its counterparts.

The statistics is important in providing governing information regarding the municipalities economical activities to politicians, state authorities and to the municipalities.

External users are e.g. municipalities and county municipalities, the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Developement, in addition to research institutions, media and others.

No external users have access to statistics before they are released at 8 a.m. on ssb.no after at least three months’ advance notice in the release calendar. This is one of the most important principles in Statistics Norway for ensuring the equal treatment of users.

The figures for the municipalities property tax revenues are collected from the municipalities operating account, and the Statics of municipal accounts .

The statistics are collected pursuant to Act no. 83 of 22 June 2018 relating to municipalities and county authorities (The Local Government Act)

The statistics are developed, produced and disseminated pursuant to Act no. 32 of 21 June 2019 relating to official statistics and Statistics Norway (the Statistics Act).

Not relevant.

The statistics comprises all the municipalities.

KOSTRA data for property tax are reported from all the municipalities.

Data is reported electronically to Statistics Norway by to methods. An online questionnaire containing the registration of the property taxes is submitted as well as a file extract from the municipalities accounting systems.

The deadline for reporting of both the questionnaire and file extract is 15th Feb.

Editing is defined here as checking, examining and amending data. There are different controls and revision systems designed for the submission of both the electronic questionnaire and file extract. Data from the questionnaire is controlled online and further checks is made once received. In case of any deviations, the file or questionnaire must be corrected by the respondents ( municipalities) before it is finally accepted and registered.

Calculations

If there are non-responsive municipalities, the figures for aggregated regions are estimated by imputing the figures reported last year from the non-responsive municipalities.

The data is published in basic figures. Basic figures are absolute figures.

Not relevant.

Employees of Statistics Norway have a duty of confidentiality.

Statistics Norway does not publish figures if there is a risk of the respondent’s contribution being identified. This means that, as a general rule, figures are not published if fewer than three units form the basis of a cell in a table or if the contribution of one or two respondents constitutes a very large part of the cell total.

Statistics Norway can make exceptions to the general rule if deemed necessary to meet the requirements of the EEA agreement, if the respondent is a public authority, if the respondent has consented to this, or when the information disclosed is openly accessible to the public.

More information can be found on Statistics Norway’s website under Methods in official statistics, in the ‘Confidentiality’ section.

Break in the time series between 2019 and 2020 due to major change in the organisation of municipalities. The number of municipalities are reduced from 422 in 2019 to 356 from 1.1.2020 on.

Break in the time series between 20018 and 20019. Break in time series between 2018 and 2019 due to change i definition of the category 'Mills and factories'.

The controlling of the published preliminary figures March 15th, are only done by electronic controls. These controls do not find all the errors and there can be errors in the published preliminary figures March 15th. When publishing edited figures June 15th, controls are made by both Statistics Norway and the municipalities themselves. The publication gives very detailed information, and the controls done by Statistics Norway do not cover all details, so errors can still occur.

Partial non-response occurs. The reporting of questionnaire 33 and municipality accounts is based on the principle of total counting, but there will always be considerable defections when Statistics Norway publishes preliminary figures March 15th. The audited figures published the 15th of June by KOSTRA, are figures controlled by the municipalities themselves and Statistics Norway.

Publication of audited figures 15th of June produce some defections but considerable less than publication of the preliminary figures. In the publication of 15th March the defection rate can be about 30 per cent, but in June the defection rate is normally less than 2 per cent.

The preliminary figures concerning property tax accounts for 2022 comprises of 335 of total 356 municipalities. The preliminary figures concerning the other property tax related figures for 2023 comprises of 355 of total 356 municipalities.

In the period 2020-2023, the statistics will not be complete. This because of transitional arrangements to harmonize the property tax for municipalities which merger into a new, bigger municipality.

A revision is a planned change to figures that have already been published, for example when releasing final figures as a follow-up to published preliminary figures. See also Statistics Norway’s principles for revisions.

Preliminary figures publication is 15. March in KOSTRA . Audited figures publication is 15. Juni in KOSTRA.