E-invoicing in Norway from 2027: what you need to know
Updated October 4, 2026
From 1 January 2027, businesses with a bookkeeping obligation in Norway – sole proprietorships included – must invoice each other with e-invoices, not PDFs, when the customer can receive them. That follows from the amendments to the Bookkeeping Act and the regulation the Tax Directorate adopted on 29 September 2026. The duty to receive e-invoices, and to keep the books in an electronic accounting system, follows on 1 January 2030.
What is an e-invoice?
An e-invoice is not a PDF. The law defines an electronic invoice as a sales document "in a structured, electronic format suitable for automated processing in the accounting system" (Bookkeeping Act § 3 no. 3). The recipient’s accounting system reads the invoice directly, without anyone typing it in.
The approved formats are EHF Billing and Peppol BIS Billing, version 3.0 or later, and the matching self-billing formats (Bookkeeping Regulation § 5-2-9). An EHF invoice and Peppol BIS Billing 3.0 are in practice the same format (DFØ). In Norway these invoices travel through the Peppol network, via an access point (Digdir).
A PDF invoice has none of these properties, and cannot be used when the buyer has a bookkeeping obligation and can receive electronic invoices (Norwegian Tax Administration).
Who does the requirement cover?
The requirement applies to sales of goods and services to others with a bookkeeping obligation (Bookkeeping Act § 10). That includes limited companies and sole proprietorships (regjeringen.no). Invoices to private individuals are not covered; e-invoicing to consumers and e-receipts are being studied separately.
If you have a bookkeeping obligation, file a tax return for income and wealth tax, have turnover of at most NOK 50,000 in a calendar year, no accounting obligation under the Accounting Act and no VAT returns to file, lighter rules apply: you don’t have to be able to receive e-invoices, and the requirement to send e-invoices for sales of goods applies only if you invoice in a system that can. The regulation mentions only goods in this rule. Nor does the exemption apply to certain other groups listed in the Tax Administration Regulation § 8-2-1 second paragraph, and it ends the moment turnover passes NOK 50,000 (Bookkeeping Regulation § 1-2).
What changes on 1 January 2027?
From 1 January 2027, businesses with a bookkeeping obligation must invoice each other with e-invoices (regjeringen.no). Until 2030, the duty in practice applies only when the customer is able to receive e-invoices (Norwegian Tax Administration). But if the customer can receive them, you can no longer send a PDF.
From 2027 to 2029 you and your customer may still agree to use another electronic invoice format than EHF or Peppol BIS (Bookkeeping Regulation § 5-2-9).
What happens in 2028 and 2030?
From 1 January 2028, the buyer’s organisation number must be on the invoice when the buyer has a bookkeeping obligation, and it will no longer be allowed to agree that the invoice is not sent (Norwegian Tax Administration).
From 1 January 2030, everyone with a bookkeeping obligation must be able to receive e-invoices, and bookkeeping must take place in an electronic accounting system (regjeringen.no, Bookkeeping Act § 7). Once all your customers can receive e-invoices, the duty to send them in practice covers every sale to a business with a bookkeeping obligation.
How to get ready
- Check whether your invoicing software can send e-invoices in EHF or Peppol BIS Billing format, version 3.0.
- Find out which business customers can receive e-invoices: look up their organisation number in the Peppol Directory.
- Get your business ready to receive e-invoices. You can’t register yourself in ELMA, the register of recipients – the access point provider does it, either through your invoicing software or a separate access point service (Digdir). The duty to receive applies from 1 January 2030.
- Add your business customers’ organisation numbers so they appear on the invoice – that becomes a requirement on 1 January 2028.
- If you only sell to private individuals, the duty to send e-invoices doesn’t apply to you. From 2030 you must still be able to receive e-invoices from your suppliers, unless the NOK 50,000 rule applies to you.
Background: how the law came about
The government proposed the requirement on 16 March 2026, bringing it forward from 2028 to 2027 (regjeringen.no). The Storting dealt with it as Prop. 44 L (2025–2026) and Innst. 262 L (2025–2026), with readings on 28 May and 8 June 2026 (Storting).
The law was sanctioned on 19 June 2026 as LOV-2026-06-19-39, and the same day the King in Council decided when the changes take effect (regjeringen.no). The Tax Directorate adopted the detailed rules on formats, exemptions and transition on 29 September 2026 (Norwegian Tax Administration).