VAT Compensation for Rental to Church Councils Not Treated as Public Sector Leasing

The case concerned VAT compensation for rental to a church council (kirkelig fellesråd).
The Tax Directorate assessed whether such rental should be equated with rental to public entities governed by the municipal council, for activities financed by the municipality.
The Directorate concluded that the church council is economically and administratively autonomous within the Church of Norway, even for municipally funded activities.
Therefore, the rental arrangement does not qualify for voluntary VAT registration under the relevant sections of the VAT Act.

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.