Norwegian-registered foreign business (NUF)
Last updated: 6 December 2024.
All foreign businesses in need of a Norwegian organisation number must register as a Norwegian registered foreign business (NUF).
Foreign businesses that are doing business operations in Norway are obliged to register in The Register of Business Enterprises. Foreign businesses which are not doing business in Norway have the right to register in The Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities. It is the foreign business in the country of origin which is responsible for the business in Norway.
Frequently asked questions about Norwegian registered foreign business (NUF)
The fee for registration in the Central Coordinating Register for Legal Entities will be reduced when the initial registration is done at the same time as the registration in the Register of Business Enterprises.
On the page headed Duty to register in the Register of Business Enterprises for NUF you will find information about register requirements.
If you wish to make changes to the information registered on your NUF, you can in most cases do this by submitting an electronic version of the form Coordinated register notification. If there are changes or new information about the business in the country of origin, you cannot use an electronic form.
For businesses registered with the Register of Business Enterprises, it is not possible to use an electronic form if there is not registered, or reported, a general manager, a Norwegian representative, a board for the Norwegian business or a person with signature rights.
When you have sold goods or services for more than NOK 50,000 in the course of a twelve month period, you must register the business in the VAT Register.
You will find more information about the VAT Register with the Tax Administration.
NUF that carries out commercial activities in Norway, and is taxable to Norway according to Norwegian domestic legislation, has accounting obligation and an obligation to submit annual accounts to the Register of Annual Accounts.
If the NUF, which is registered in the Register of Business Enterprises, has no accounting obligation, they must report this in writing for each fiscal year to the Register of Annual Accounts. On the page headed Reporting obligations for Norwegian registered foreign businesses, you will find more information about accounting requirements.
NUF with an accounting obligation is required to undergo an audit starting from the subsequent fiscal year if they exceed any of the following three thresholds:
- NOK 7 million in operating revenue
- NOK 27 million in total assets
- an average of 10 full-time equivalents or more.
To waive audit, the company must remain below all three thresholds and can then report about waiving audit for the following fiscal year.
You cannot directly register a conversion from NUF to limited company. You must therefore
- register the new limited company
- close down the NUF
In order for the conversion to be tax-free, the limited company must be established and a notification about this submitted to the Register of Business Enterprises during the period between 1 January and the end of June in the income year. Tax deductions and calculated employer’s contribution must be made no later than 1 July.
Read more about tax-free conversion on Start and run business in Altinn.
In principle, attachments should be translated into Norwegian, but we can accept documents in Danish, Swedish and English.
If the business is to be registered in The Register of Business Enterprises, the name must contain the main company´s name and include the designation of the organisation type, NUF. The designation NUF must be placed at the end of the company name.