For more information visit Skatteforsk - Centre for Tax Research.
Note snapshot
A new EU law requires large multinationals to publish where they earn profits and pay tax, and Norway is preparing its implementation. The Ministry of Finance published its proposal on 17 June 2026, with responses due by 17 September 2026. This note reviews the reporting rules already in force in Norway, the proposal in European comparison, the groups the new register will cover, and the first filings made under the law in EU countries.
The proposal
• Reportswould be filed in the accounts register (Regnskapsregisteret) in machine-readable form, from financial year 2026 or 2027 at the earliest, above a threshold of NOK 7.5 billion, with a late-filing fee of up to NOK 700,000 (about EUR 64,000).
• On most of the Directive’s options the proposal follows the majority of Member States. The country breakdown covers every EEA state, the baseline for Norway under the EEA Agreement. The proposed fee is already among the firmer sanction regimes in Europe.
The register’s reach
• The OECD’s statistics record at least 1,260 multinational groups operating in Norway, and most are headquartered abroad. Only the Norwegian-headquartered among them are certain to file in the Norwegian register, at least 91 companies on the Ministry’s count. Whether the reports of the rest show Norwegian figures depends on the law of the state where each files, so the register will open with the Norwegian minority.
What we recommend
• For this first implementation, follow the majority of EU states: alignment keeps the reports comparable and limits the burden on the reporting groups. The register, whose design is not harmonised, is where Norway can make a difference.
• Design choices available within the draftwouldmake the register complete, comparable and verifiable: exemptions, omissions and deferrals observable in the register, a register that knows who must file, and access that is free, machine-readable and open to all.
For the 2027 review
• A separate line for the parent’s home country as a first step towards full country-level disaggregation, wider variables, alignment with the global minimum tax, a common collection point for the published reports, and access to the underlying data for research.
Authors
Giulia Aliprandi