Norway finalises e-invoicing rulebook: issue from 2027, receive by 2030

Bookkeeping-obligated businesses that sell goods or services to other bookkeeping-obligated businesses must issue the sales documentation in electronic invoice format from 1 January 2027Skatteetaten, under bokføringsloven § 10 annet ledd første punktum. The mirror duty on the buying side — receiving purchase documentation in electronic invoice format under § 10 annet ledd annet punktum — must be fulfilled by 1 January 2030 at the latestLovdata, under the transitional regulation Finansdepartementet adopted on 25 September 2026. In practice the issue duty therefore bites first only where the recipient is registered to receive electronic invoices in ELMA/Peppol.

The approved invoice standards are EHF Fakturering, Peppol BIS Billing, EHF Selvfakturering and Peppol BIS Self-Billing, all in version 3.0 or newerSkatteetaten, under bokføringsforskriften § 5-2-9 annet ledd with effect from 1 January 2027. Through a transition ending 1 January 2030, other formats count as electronic invoices if they meet the statutory definition of elektronisk faktura in bokføringsloven § 3 nr. 3Skatteetaten — an electronic invoice being a sales document that can be issued, sent and received in a structured electronic format suitable for automated processing in the accounting system. EDIFACT and E2B are examples; a PDF invoice does not qualify once a bookkeeping-obligated buyer can receive electronic invoices.

Carve-outs from the send and receive duties cover bankruptcy estates that are not commercially active (bokføringsforskriften § 1-1), bookkeeping-obligated businesses with low turnover (§ 1-2), financial business (§ 8-13-2) and insurance companies and pension undertakings (§ 8-14-2)Skatteetaten. From 1 January 2030 bookkeeping must take place in an electronic accounting system under bokføringsloven § 7 fjerde ledd, unless otherwise decided by regulation or individual decisionSkatteetaten; the amending regulation exempts businesses whose turnover does not exceed 50 000 kroner in a calendar year, on the detailed conditions in § 1-2, alongside the bankruptcy-estate exception in § 1-1Skatteetaten.

Two further duties take effect earlier. The exemption from electronic availability for businesses with turnover below 5 million kroner in bokføringsforskriften § 7-7 tredje ledd is repealed from 1 January 2027Skatteetaten, with the cross-reference in § 7-8 første ledd removed at the same time. From 1 January 2028 the sales document must state the bookkeeping-obligated buyer's organisation number (bokføringsforskriften § 5-1-2 første ledd)Skatteetaten, and business-to-business parties may no longer agree that all or part of the sales document is not transmitted to the buyer (bokføringsforskriften § 5-2-1 fjerde ledd).

The administration of the new duties sits with Skattedirektoratet: Finansdepartementet delegated its authority to adopt regulations and individual decisions under bokføringsloven § 7 fjerde ledd and § 10 fjerde ledd to Skattedirektoratet on 25 September 2026Lovdata; section II of the decision states it enters into force immediately ("trer i kraft straks"). Skattedirektoratet adopted the amending regulation to bokføringsforskriften that sets the standards, exceptions and staggered dates above on 29 September 2026, four days after the delegation took effectSkatteetaten.

Legal basis: lov 19. juni 2026 nr. 39 om endringer i bokføringsloven (pliktig digital bokføring og e-fakturering mv.); FOR-2026-09-25-1912 delegating regulation authority under bokføringsloven §§ 7 and 10 to Skattedirektoratet; FOR-2026-09-25-1913 transitional regulation postponing the receive duty to 1 January 2030; Skattedirektoratet's forskrift 29. september 2026 om endring i bokføringsforskriften.