Aquaculture and fish farming

When you run a fish farming business, you must pay tax on your income and wealth. You can claim a deduction for expenses you have incurred for your business.

Does this apply to me?

This applies to those who conduct fish farming activities and have an aquaculture licence.

Aquaculture refers to aquaculture, farming (production) of fish, animals, and plants that live in water. To conduct aquaculture activities, an aquaculture licence is required (fish farming permit).

What you need to do

You must enter your income, wealth, and any expenses in your tax return.

In addition, you must: 

Taxable income

Companies and other businesses resident in Norway are liable to pay tax in Norway on all wealth and income.

There are separate rules for income related to aquaculture activities.

Growth (production of fish)

Growth in the stock of fish and other organisms is not considered taxable income. Your business is only taxed when you enter income from the sale of the fish in the tax return.

Harvesting of fish and other organisms

If you harvest fish and other organisms for your own private consumption, you must enter the market price for the harvest as income in your tax return.  

About private use of a company's assets

Joint operations and co-localisation

Businesses with aquaculture licences can choose between two types of cooperation:

  • joint operations – the fish are kept in separate cages at the same location
  • co-localisation – the fish are jointly owned in the same cage

If the cooperation is not carried out at the owners' joint expense and risk, they must each determine their own income and wealth.

Taxable wealth

You must pay tax on the wealth of your assets in the business.

Wealth is normally valued at market value, that is, the price you can get when selling on the open market (market price).

The value of farmed fish and molluscs is set at 65 percent of the production value. The production value includes costs for the purchase of fry, smolt, or hatchery fish, feed and hired labour. 

The enterprise's fixed assets are valued at their taxable balance value at the end of the income year. 

Stock and feed in the business are valued at cost price. 

An aquaculture licence is taxable wealth. This does not apply to time-limited aquaculture licences.

The value of licences is set at 25 percent of the licence's sales value. A corresponding proportion of the company's debt must be valued at the same percentage. See the guide Skatte-ABC (under Formue - Akvakulturtillatelser (wealth – aquaculture licences, in Norwegian only)) and the overview of the contents in the tax return.

For a licence to farm salmon, trout, and rainbow trout in the sea, you can use the achieved auction price as a starting point for the valuation.

The value of aquaculture licences that were owned by the company on 1 January in the tax assessment year (the year after the income year) is determined as a whole.

Guidance to determining the wealth related to aquaculture licences

Private limited companies have a duty to determine and disclose the taxable value of shares.

The company determines the taxable values when submitting the company's tax return. The date of valuation is 1 January of the year following the income year for which the company reports.

 The values the company reports in the tax return are used to complete the shareholder register statement. The share values are then pre-filled in the shareholders' tax return as the taxable value for the following income year. 

Deduction for expenses

You may be entitled to a deduction for expenses you’ve incurred for your business. 

A permit to conduct farming (aquaculture licence) is considerer a fixed asset in the business. Generally, you cannot claim a deduction for the fish farming permit.

However, you may claim a deduction for the fish farming permit when:

  • the fish farming permit is time limited
  • the fish farming permit has permanently decreased in value compared to what you paid for it (opening value)

You should take note of the part of the purchase price that applies to the fish farming permit and keep agreements, invoices, and receipts for later use.

If you buy live fish or other animals and plants for the fish farming business, you can claim a deduction for the expenses in the year of purchase.

You can claim a deduction for expenses for fish feed you use in the fish farming business in the income year in question. This also applies to similar expenses you spend on the farmed fish themselves. 

If you own the fish farm used in the business, you'll receive a percentage deduction in the form of depreciation for the part of the cost price that applies to the fish farm, cage, or similar. 

Balance groups and depreciation rates

Simpler fish cages that consist of floating enclosures are depreciated in balance group d (for example, machinery, gear, instruments, and fixtures).  

Larger floating structures with integrated cages with a longer lifespan are depreciated in balance group e (for example, ships, vessels, rigs).  

Costs for replacing nets in fish cages are considered maintenance costs that you can deduct in the income year in question. 

Supporting documentation

You must keep your vouchers and other supporting documents, but you do not have to include any attachments in the tax return. If the Tax Administration needs more information, we’ll contact you.