What Is Forskuddsskatt and How Do You Pay Advance Tax in an ENK?

I ended up with around 280,000 NOK profit in my ENK, I've been running it for half a year. And I'm kind of confused, because clients pay invoices but none of them deduct any tax. When do I have to pay it?

Do you run an ENK and wonder when your tax becomes due? In this article, we explain what advance tax is, what amount it is calculated from, how to report your expected profit, and when to pay the instalments in 2026.

What Does Forskuddsskatt Mean in an ENK?

Forskuddsskatt is income tax paid in advance during the same year in which you earn the income. In an ENK, the business owner is directly liable for tax because a sole proprietorship is not a separate taxpayer.

Clients do not deduct tax from the invoices they pay. If you issue an invoice for 50,000 NOK, the entire payment goes to you, and you must set aside and pay the tax yourself.

You have one combined skattekort (tax card), which covers your entire tax situation, including:

• expected ENK profit,
• salary from employment,
• taxable NAV benefits,
• interest and debt,
• assets,
• deductions you are entitled to.

Forskuddsskatt is an advance payment, not the final tax for the year. The final amount is only determined by the skattemelding (tax return) and the subsequent skatteoppgjør (tax assessment result).

What Amount Are Advance Payments Calculated From?

The basis is your expected annual profit, meaning business income less deductible expenses. Advance payments are not calculated from turnover or the balance in your bank account.

Example:

In this case, you enter an expected profit of 380,000 NOK in your tax card. We discuss the rules for recognising expenses in more detail in the article What expenses can I include as business costs in Norway?

Transfers from the business account to your private account are not an expense. As an ENK owner, you do not pay yourself an employee salary, and private transfers do not reduce your profit or tax. Tax on the profit also arises if you leave the money in the business account.

Rates Included in 2026

An ENK owner's tax consists of several components. You cannot simply add up all rates and apply them to the entire profit because they have different bases, thresholds, and deductions.

The trinnskatt thresholds for 2026 are as follows:

The higher trinnskatt rate applies only to the portion of income exceeding the relevant threshold. We explain the national insurance contribution in more detail in the article What Is Trygdeavgift and How Is It Split Between Social Security and Health Contributions in Norway?

In practice, an ENK owner's advance payments often amount to around 34-50% of profit. A safe ongoing reserve is usually around 40% of profit, but this is not a statutory or fixed tax rate. The actual outcome depends, among other things, on the level of profit, employment income, deductions, NAV benefits, and assets.

How Do You Set Up and Pay Forskuddsskatt?

Registering an ENK alone does not automatically result in a tax instalment being issued for a new business. If you expect to make a profit, you must update your tax card.

Payment information is usually sent around three weeks before the due date:

• as an eFaktura to your bank, if you use this service,
• to your Altinn inbox, if you do not have eFaktura,
• by post, if you have opted out of electronic communication.

For the transfer, use the account number and KID number stated on the invoice. The current general account specified for such payments is 7694 05 24802, but always check the payment details before making a transfer and use the KID intended for forskuddsskatt. You can generate a KID in the Skatteetaten generator.

You can check payments and outstanding amounts after logging in under Krav og betalinger.

Due Dates, Changing Instalments, and the Annual Tax Assessment

As standard, the annual advance payment is divided into four equal instalments. The statutory due dates are 15 March, 15 June, 15 September, and 15 December, but a due date falling on a non-working day is moved to the next business day.

If the annual forskuddsskatt is less than 2,000 NOK, the full amount is payable in one instalment on 15 June 2026. Payment cannot be required earlier than three weeks after the information about the determined advance payment is sent.

If advance payments are determined after one or more due dates have passed, the annual amount will be divided between the due dates that remain. Once all due dates have passed, payment is due three weeks after the information is sent.

Updating Your Forecast During the Year

You can change your tax card multiple times when your actual profit differs from the previous forecast. Online changes concerning 2026 can be submitted until 15 December 2026.

• When profit increases, raise your forecast to reduce the risk of underpayment.
• When profit falls, lower your forecast.
• If the business starts expecting a loss and instalments have already been set, enter an expected profit of 0 NOK.
• For seasonal business activity, you can change the quarterly distribution of profit if the forecast for a weaker quarter is no more than 2/3 of the amount previously assumed for that period.

If the change is approved before the instalment due date, you change the transfer amount yourself. You will not receive a new invoice. With the standard equal split, the new instalment equals one quarter of the current annual advance payment. If the change has not been approved before the due date, you must pay the amount shown on the invoice.

Underpayment and Additional Payment

After the end of the year, your actual tax will be calculated based on the tax return. The result depends on actual income, expenses, and deductions, not on the earlier forecast.

An additional advance payment, known as tilleggsforskudd, requires the KID applicable to this type of payment. The deadline of 31 May 2027 applies to income earned in 2026 and allows you to avoid an interest surcharge on the underpayment covered by the payment.

What Happens If You Do Not Pay an Instalment?

Failure to pay one instalment may make the entire remaining advance payment for the year due immediately. If the payment is not received within 7 calendar days after the due date, you will receive an enforcement warning and a further deadline of 14 days.

Continued non-payment may lead to deductions from income or seizure of assets. Late payment interest is also charged. Its rate in 2026 was 12% per year from 1 January and 12.25% per year from 1 July.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

Summary

• Forskuddsskatt is an ENK owner's advance tax payment, paid during the year, not the final tax resulting from the annual assessment.
• The basis for the forecast is annual profit, meaning income less expenses, not turnover or private withdrawals.
• In 2026, the standard instalment due dates are 16 March, 15 June, 15 September, and 15 December.
• When the profit forecast changes, you need to update your tax card to reduce the risk of underpayment or overpayment.

If you need help determining and settling advance tax payments in an ENK, call us: +47 21 38 38 21. We help Polish people in Norway organise their business taxes.

Article author: Marcin - marcin@efirma.no