Visual artists with their own business
If you’re a self-employed visual artist, you must pay tax on your income, and you’ll be entitled to deductions for expenses related to your activity as an artist.
Does this apply to me?
This applies to you if you’re a visual artist who are self-employed.
You must have your own business, such as a sole proprietorship or private limited company.
This is included in visual arts
Visual arts include art forms such as painting, drawing, graphic art, sculpture, tapestry weaving, photography, video, computer art, installations, and graffiti.
Architecture, literature, music, dance, drama, and crafts such as design and artware are not included.
What you need to do
Tax deduction card and advance tax
Check your tax deduction card and remember to pay advance tax. You must pay advance tax of the expected profits.
Accounting
You must keep accounts. Enter the income and expenses you have in the business on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
Income and expenses
Self-employed visual artists who sell self-produced works of art must enter income and expenses in the accounts.
You must follow the cash principle, which means that income from sold works of art must be included in the accounts in the year the work is sold.
In the same way, expenses must be entered in the accounts in the year in which they are paid.
Stock
You must not enter finished works of art as stock in the accounts, since the cash principle applies.
The expenses associated with producing the artworks must be included in the accounts in the same year as they are paid.
The tax return
You must submit the tax return with the business information by 31 May at the latest.
Your accounts are the basis for completing the business information. You must state all the income and expenses from your business activity.
Sales revenue of less than NOK 50,000
If you have sales revenue of less than NOK 50,000, you’ll receive a simplified business information that is adapted to you.
If you’re registered in the VAT Register, you must submit VAT returns. You must also submit VAT returns for periods when you have not sold anything.
No value added tax liability on the sale of your own art
You do not have to pay value added tax when you sell works of art that you have created yourself. The same applies when you sell the copyright to your own works of art.
Examples of your own original works of art:
- paintings, drawings, collages
- graphic works such as engravings, prints, and lithography that are signed and numbered in a limited number up to 300 pieces
- sculptures, reliefs, and installations
- digital artwork
- tapestries, tapestry weavings, and other textile art
- artistic photographs (images from ordinary photography activities are not regarded as artistic photographs)
If you only sell your own art, you do not need to register your business in the Value Added Tax Register. Then there is also no deduction for value added tax on goods and services you buy to make the art.
More information about value added tax: How VAT works - the Tax Administration.
Visual artists operating as a private limited company (AS)
If you run a private limited company and the private limited company sells your artworks, the exemption for value added tax on sales revenue does not apply. The exemption only applies if the artworks are owned and the sales revenue is received by the visual artist personally.
Value added tax on applied art and artware
Applied art and artware are considered typical utility items such as clothes, bowls, dishes, lamps, and jewellery. The sale of such goods is vatable.
If you sell applied art and artware for more than NOK 50,000 over a period of twelve months, you must therefore register in the Value Added Tax Register.
You can deduct value added tax on purchases you have for applied art and artware when you’re registered in the Value Added Tax Register.
Value added tax on the sales of other types of goods and services
If you sell other types of goods or services in addition to your business activity as an artist, you may be obliged to register in the Value Added Tax Register for this part of the business. In this case, you must calculate and pay value added tax. The sale must exceed NOK 50,000 in a period of twelve months.
For example, if you make picture frames for other artists or customers, these are sales that are vatable and on which you must pay value added tax. The same applies if you sell painting equipment.
If you use the same goods for your own art, you must calculate value added tax on what you use yourself as if the goods had been sold to others.
You’ll be entitled to a deduction of value added tax on purchases you make for this part of the business.
If you sell painting courses, you must not calculate and pay value added tax on the course fee. Course activity is an educational service, which is exempt from value added tax.
If you’re unsure whether you should register in the Value Added Tax Register for all or part of the income in your business, you can contact the Tax Administration.
If you’re liable for value added tax and are registered in the Value Added Tax Register for such sales, you’ll be entitled to a deduction for all or part of the value added tax you pay on purchases you make in this part of the business.
If you have expenses on purchases that are only related to income that you must calculate and pay value added tax on, you’ll be entitled to a deduction for the entire amount you pay in value added tax on the purchases.
If the purchases are linked to both vatable and non-vatable income, you’ll only be entitled to a deduction for the part of the value added tax paid that is linked to income on which you’re liable to pay value added tax.
The allocation must be in proportion to how much you have actually used the purchases in the vatable and non-vatable part of the business.
If it’s difficult to allocate value added tax to purchases based on actual use, you can allocate it according to the size of vatable and non-vatable turnover.
Read more about deductions and allocation of value added tax. Here there are also good examples of how to allocate.
Sales revenue
Examples of sales revenue: Sales from studios, exhibitions, intermediary sales, and exhibition remuneration. Income from art assignments and income from assignments as an art consultant must also be included.
If you’ve given a work of art as a gift to, for example, family or to a charity, the sales value of the artwork must be included as sales revenue.
Sales of used equipment that are not depreciated in the balance sheet, such as used photographic equipment, must also be included as sales revenue.
Other income
Examples of other income: Stipends, awards, travel grants, and competition prizes.
Stipends received to cover specified expenses must be included as income only for the portion that exceeds the expenses it’s intended to cover.
Expenses
Expenses for materials to make works of art, other operating expenses such as expenses for studios, telephone, internet, and office supplies.
If you use a room in your own home for a studio, you can claim a deduction according to the rules for home office.
Assets in the business
If you have assets that are used in the business, such as your own studio or workshop, you can claim a deduction for depreciation.
More about relevant deductions: Office, car (transport) and equipment - The Tax Administration
Specific information if you
For visual artists who have received a work grant or guaranteed salary from the state, the amount will automatically appear in the personal tax return. It must not be entered in the business information.
The main rule is that artist grants are taxable when they’re linked to the artistic activity.
You can save tax by claiming equalisation of your personal income when you sell your own art.
The need for equalisation may arise when the personal income for the year is significantly higher than the average personal income for the last two years. Part of the increase in total personal income must be due to the sale of one's own works of art. In addition, the income from the sale of one's own works of art must be a significant part of the year's total personal income.
Examples where equalisation may be relevant:
You work for two years producing artwork for a larger exhibition in year three. The exhibition is going well, and you’re selling well. Your income in year three is significantly higher than in the previous two years.
You must include an attachment to your tax return to equalise tax
In the attachment, you must write that you wish to distribute the personal income with equal amounts each year in accordance with the rules for the sale of art (intellectual property).
You write this as a separate document and attach it to your tax return.
If the tax on personal income is lower, the Tax Administration will recalculate the tax for the last three years. The reduction in this year's tax will result in a slight increase in tax in the two previous years.
Supporting documents
You do not need to send us any supporting documents, but you must be able to provide them if we ask for them.