- Skattedirektoratet has issued a statement regarding the scope of the exemption in the VAT Act § 3-9.
- The provision states that services provided as part of the exercise of public authority are exempt from the law.
- The question is whether this exemption applies to fees that municipalities calculate for mandatory chimney sweeping and inspection of heating systems.
- Skattedirektoratet’s assessment is that municipalities should not calculate VAT on these fees.
- Prior to the VAT reform in 2001, only services listed in the law were subject to VAT.
- Chimney sweeping was considered to fall under the category of “services related to real property” and was therefore subject to VAT.
- Inspection of heating systems does not involve any work on real property and is therefore not subject to VAT.
- The purpose of the inspection is to prevent fires and no work is done that changes or adds to the property.
- Skattedirektoratet’s book “Practical VAT and investment tax in public administration” states that inspections and supervision are outside the scope of VAT.
- The exemption for services as part of the exercise of public authority was introduced in the VAT Act in 2001.
- The need to distinguish between public activities that should be exempt from VAT was addressed through the exemption for services as part of the exercise of public authority.
- Public authority involves making decisions and taking actions towards private entities based on public law rules.
- Services that can only be performed by the authority assigned by public law rules are exempt from VAT.
Source: skatteetaten.no
Note that this post was (partially) written with the help of AI. It is always useful to review the original source material, and where needed to obtain (local) advice from a specialist.
