Norway Rental Income Tax Guide (Leieinntekter, 22% Net Tax, Standard Cost Deduction)
Rental income in Norway (leieinntekter) is taxed as capital income at 22% on net profit. Landlords can claim the standard 15% cost deduction on short-term rentals or deduct actual expenses. Mortgage interest on rental property is fully deductible at the 22% rate.
Norway taxes rental income from property as capital income (kapitalinntekt) at the flat rate of 22%. The system is administered by Skatteetaten and applies to both residential and commercial property rentals. All amounts are in Norwegian kroner (NOK).
How Rental Income Is Taxed
Rental income (leieinntekter) in Norway is classified as kapitalinntekt (capital income) and is taxed at the flat rate of 22%. The taxable amount is net rental income — gross rent received minus allowable deductions. Unlike employment income, rental income is not subject to trygdeavgift (social security contributions) or trinnskatt (step tax). This makes rental income relatively tax-efficient compared to earned income. The 22% rate applies to all rental income regardless of the amount. Losses from rental activities can be offset against other capital income in the same year. If net rental losses exceed other capital gains, the remaining loss can be carried forward and offset against future capital gains. There is no limitation period for carrying forward losses. Rental income must be reported on the skattemeldingen in the capital income section (post 4.1.1 for income and post 4.1.2 for expenses related to the rental activity). The tax year follows the calendar year, and rental income must be reported on an accrual basis — income is taxable when it is earned, not when it is received. For long-term rentals (typically 12 months or more), the rental period determines when income must be reported.
Standard Cost Deduction (15%) for Short-Term Rentals
Norway offers a simplified deduction method for short-term rental properties, particularly relevant for properties rented through platforms like Airbnb, Vrbo, and Booking.com. Under this method, landlords can claim a standard 15% deduction of gross rental income instead of itemising actual expenses. The 15% standard deduction is intended to cover all operating costs including cleaning, maintenance, utilities, insurance, and management fees. The standard deduction applies to rental periods of less than 30 days per tenant. If you use the standard deduction, you cannot also claim actual expenses. The standard deduction is particularly simple and is available for rentals of your primary residence, secondary homes, and cabins (hytter). For 2026, the standard deduction is available for the first NOK 10,000 of rental income from each property — income below this threshold is tax-free. This means if you rent out your cabin for a few weeks and earn up to NOK 10,000, no tax is due and no reporting is required. Above NOK 10,000, the 15% deduction applies to the gross amount. For example, if you earn NOK 50,000 from short-term rentals, the deduction is NOK 7,500 (15%), leaving NOK 42,500 as net taxable rental income.
Actual Expense Deduction for Long-Term Rentals
For long-term rentals (30 days or more per tenant) or if you prefer to itemise, you can deduct actual expenses instead of using the standard 15% deduction. Deductible expenses include: (a) municipal property tax (kommunal eiendomsskatt), (b) building insurance (husforsikring), (c) maintenance and repairs (vedlikehold) — costs to keep the property in its current condition (but not improvements that increase the property's value), (d) management fees if you use a property manager, (e) cleaning and utilities if you pay them as part of the rental agreement, (f) advertising and letting fees (annonsering, formidlingshonorar), (g) legal and professional fees related to the rental, (h) depreciation — buildings can be depreciated at a rate of 2% per annum on a straight-line basis (based on the building's tax value, not the purchase price), and (i) travel expenses for property management visits if the property is in a different location. Capital improvements (påkostninger) that increase the property's value cannot be deducted as expenses but may be added to the cost basis for depreciation purposes. It is important to distinguish between repairs (deductible) and improvements (not deductible) as Skatteetaten scrutinises this distinction carefully.
Interest Deduction on Mortgage
One of the most valuable deductions available to Norwegian landlords is the interest deduction on mortgage debt used to acquire or improve the rental property. Interest on rental property mortgages is fully deductible against capital income, including rental income. The deduction is claimed at the 22% rate, the same as the rental income tax rate. This means that if your mortgage interest rate is, for example, 5%, the effective after-tax cost is only 3.9% (5% × (1 − 0.22)). Interest on the portion of the mortgage used for the property purchase is fully deductible. If you have a mixed-use mortgage (partly for the rental property and partly for personal use), only the interest attributable to the rental property is deductible. The interest deduction is reported on the skattemeldingen under post 4.1.2 (expenses). The deduction applies to all types of rental property, including residential, commercial, cabins, and holiday homes. For Norwegian tax residents, interest on foreign mortgages used to finance Norwegian rental property is also deductible, subject to currency conversion rules.
Rental of Primary Residence
If you rent out part of your primary residence (egen bolig), special rules apply. The first NOK 10,000 of rental income per year is tax-free, as mentioned above. Above this threshold, you can choose between the standard 15% deduction or actual expenses. However, if you rent out part of your home while you continue to live there, only the portion of expenses attributable to the rented space is deductible. Skatteetaten typically expects you to allocate expenses based on the percentage of the home's floor space that is rented. For example, if you rent out two rooms in a 100 m² home (20 m²), 20% of your housing expenses (utilities, insurance, maintenance) may be deductible. The interest deduction remains available for the entire mortgage, but only the portion relating to the rental area is deductible against rental income. Short-term rentals of your primary residence (e.g., through Airbnb while you are on holiday) are also covered by the standard deduction method and the NOK 10,000 tax-free threshold. This makes short-term rental of your primary residence a potentially tax-free source of income for most casual hosts.
Wealth Tax on Rental Properties
Norway's net wealth tax (formuesskatt) applies to rental properties at their assessed tax value (formuesverdi). For residential rental properties, the tax value is 25% of the estimated market value (as determined by Skatteetaten's valuation model). For commercial rental properties, the tax value is the property's assessed value under the property tax system. The wealth tax rate is 0.45% on net wealth above the basic allowance of approximately NOK 1,700,000. This means that a rental property with a tax value of NOK 3,000,000 could generate an annual wealth tax liability. The wealth tax is an additional cost of property ownership in Norway and should be factored into investment calculations, particularly for high-value properties. The wealth tax is reported on the skattemeldingen under the wealth section. Mortgage debt related to the rental property is deductible from the total wealth calculation, reducing the net taxable wealth. Foreign investors should note that non-residents are generally not subject to Norwegian wealth tax, but Norwegian residents who own foreign rental properties are subject to wealth tax on those properties as well. Read our Norway Tax Filing Guide →