Inheritance tax is abolished

The inheritance tax is abolished for inheritance from persons who die 1 January 2014 or later. This also applies to gifts donated 1 January 2014 or later. This affects the right to information into previous cases concerning inheritance tax.

The Inheritance Act section 23, subsection 2 imposes the inheritance tax authority with a very strict duty of confidentiality. In practise, only the direct beneficiaries in an inheritance tax case have insight into the case documents. In addition, official state administrators who need information in order to calculate the correct inheritance tax or joint heirs who may become responsible for other persons inheritance tax (joint and several liability) can get access to certain information.

Since the inheritance tax is abolished, the basis for the right to information that some possessed is no longer present. This means:

• The administrator of an estate in public division, where the deceased person died 1 January 2014 or later, can no longer receive information regarding previous gifts from the deceased person. The reason given for this is that the district court no longer is the inheritance tax authority in these cases.
• Joint heirs in private divisions where the deceased person died 1 January 2014 or later, can no longer receive information regarding previous gifts to other beneficiaries. The reason given for this is that joint and several liability is no longer relevant in these cases.

The Norwegian Parliament decided to abolish inheritance tax from 1 January 2014. This change affects gifts given after 31 December 2013 and inheritance where the death occurred after 31 December 2013. 

You should not submit an inheritance or gift notification to the Tax Administration for gifts and inheritance received during 2014 or later.

Inheritance/gifts received in 2013

Inheritance tax on gifts given before the turn of the year should be paid according to the rules and rates that applied in 2013. The same applies to inheritance after deaths that occurred in 2013. This applies even if the beneficiary first gets access to the inheritance in 2014 or later.

You do not avoid inheritance tax by demanding a public division

The decision means that all deaths in 2013 or earlier are subject to tax. A transitional rule has been introduced. This entails that one cannot avoid tax by demanding a public division, even if the public administration of the deceased’s estate closes in 2014 or later. This also applies if it's demanded that the estate is returned to private division in 2014 or later. The Norwegian Parliament has therefore made a tax decision for 2014 with applicable tax-free amounts and rates. 

You cannot revoke gifts

The tax obligation arises when the gift is considered to have been given. For the majority of gift objects, this happens when a gift declaration has been sent to the Tax Administration. If a gift has been given before 1 January 2014, a declaration must be sent to the Tax Administration. Gifts given before the turn of the year are subject to tax even if the inheritance tax decision is not received before 2014. 

This means that when a gift has been given, it cannot be revoked in a way that affects the tax calculation. A revocation of a gift may entail a new tax liable transaction and you risk double taxation.

Tax consequences

The principle of continuity as a general rule for the transfer of inheritance and gifts came into force on 1 January 2014. Tax continuity means that the heir or the gift recipient takes over the deceased person or giver's input value on transferred items in the determination of later future gains and other tax positions related to the transferences.

The introduction of an exception from the principle of continuity (discontinuity) has been approved for residential properties, holiday homes, farms and forestry that could have been sold tax-free by the deceased person or donor at the time the gift was given or the time of death. This entails that the input value for residential properties and holiday homes should be set to the market value at the time of acquisition. For farms and forestry, this means that the maximum input value for recipients is ¾ of the property's estimated sales value.

Read more about the tax consequences.  

If you sell a property that you have inherited or been gifted, any gain from the sale will usually be taxable. If you sell at a loss, the loss is deductible as long as any gain would have been taxable.

Read more and find out if the property you're selling is taxable or not.

The transfer of real property to a new owner does not require registration. You can read more about registration at the Norwegian Mapping Authority’s website.

You must be able to prove when the property is given to the recipient.