Christmas gifts for employees in Norway 2026: NOK 5,000 a year, and only the excess is taxed
In Norway, a Christmas gift (julegave) to an employee is tax free up to NOK 5,000 a year. Over the limit, only the part over it is taxed, not the whole gift as in Sweden. Here are Norway's rules, a check for your gift, and what the rules mean for a corporate group with companies in both countries.
In Norway, a Christmas gift (julegave) to an employee is tax free up to NOK 5,000 a year. Over the limit, only the part over it is taxed, not the whole gift as in Sweden. Here are Norway's rules, a check for your gift, and what the rules mean for a corporate group with companies in both countries.
The basic rule: NOK 5,000 a year
In Norway, gifts from an employer are tax free up to NOK 5,000 per income year. The limit covers Christmas gifts, summer gifts and gift cards that can't be redeemed for cash.
Three things differ from Sweden:
- The limit is per year, not per gift. Every such gift in the year counts towards it, including gifts from people other than the employer.
- Only the excess is taxed. A gift worth NOK 8,000 gives NOK 3,000 to tax as salary. The other NOK 5,000 stay tax free.
- Not everyone has to get a gift. The exemption doesn't need a scheme for the whole staff. It also covers board members, and employees who own shares in the company.
Check your gift in Norway
Type what the gift is worth, how many gifts it pays for, and what the employee has already had in gifts this year. Pick what the gift is and the company's social fee zone.
Gift cards and money
The gift has to be something other than money. Two things still count as a gift, and one doesn't:
It counts as a gift in kind, under the same NOK 5,000 a year.
The employee buys the gift and hands in the receipt for it. Then the money counts as a gift in kind.
Cash, or a gift card that can be redeemed for cash, counts as money. It is taxed as salary, at any amount.
Over the limit: the excess becomes salary
Whatever is over NOK 5,000 is taxed as salary for the employee. The employer pays the social fee (arbeidsgiveravgift) on the same amount. The rate depends on where in Norway the company is: 14.1% in zone I, which includes Oslo, and lower further north, down to 0% in zone V.
| Christmas gift in Norway, one employee | Taxed as salary |
|---|---|
| NOK 4,000 | NOK 0 |
| NOK 5,000 | NOK 0 |
| NOK 8,000 | NOK 3,000 |
| Social fee on NOK 3,000 in zone I, 14.1% | NOK 423 |
The employer can deduct the gift's whole cost, the tax-free part included.
Other tax-free gifts in Norway
Norway has two more gifts, with their own limits. They can be given in the same year as the Christmas gift, and each limit counts on its own.
Christmas gifts, summer gifts and gift cards that can't be cashed. Per employee, per year, in total.
The company turns 25, or a number of years that divides by 25. Or the employee marries, turns 50 and every ten years after, or leaves after at least 10 years. Per year, not money.
From the employee's own employer, after at least 20 years, then after at least 10 more, for example at 30 and 40 years.
For all three: over the limit, only the excess is taxed.
The same present in two countries
An example for a group with one company in Stockholm and one in Oslo. Both give every employee a Christmas present worth 700 kronor.
700 kr is over the 600 kr limit. The whole gift is taxed, and the company pays 219.94 kr in social fee per gift.
NOK 700 is far below NOK 5,000. The gift is tax free, as long as the employee hasn't had other gifts worth more than NOK 4,300 that year.
Same gift, two answers. The simple way to handle it: decide the Christmas gift per country, not per group.
Corporate groups with companies in Sweden and Norway
CLVR Benefits runs the benefits for your whole group from the same screens, with companies in Sweden and Norway today. Each company keeps its own benefit allowance, its own benefits and its own payroll file. Read more about CLVR Benefits for corporate groups.
CLVR Benefits has no ready-made Christmas gift feature. We can add a Christmas gift to each company's Benefits Store on its own, with text that fits that country. How that works, and what applies in Sweden, is in Christmas gifts for employees 2026.
The short version
- In Norway, gifts are tax free up to NOK 5,000 per income year, in total.
- Over the limit, only the excess is taxed, as salary. The social fee is 14.1% in zone I.
- Gift cards that can't be redeemed for cash are fine. Money isn't, unless the employee hands in the receipt for the gift.
- Anniversary or occasion gift: NOK 4,000 a year. Long service gift: NOK 8,000.
- Not everyone has to get a gift, and board members are covered too.
Sources
- Skatteetaten: Skatte-ABC 2025/2026, G-1-2.1 Gaver mv.: the NOK 5,000, 4,000 and 8,000 limits, gift cards, receipts, board members and that only the excess is taxed.
- Skatteetaten: Deduction for expenses related to gifts: the NOK 8,000 Christmas gift example, and the deduction for the whole amount.
- Skatteetaten: Arbeidsgiveravgift: the social fee per zone in 2026.
- Skatteverket: GĆ„vor (for employers): the Swedish rules in the example.
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