Import Car to Norway: Cost Calculator

Importing a used car to Norway can be much cheaper than buying one locally, but only if you count every tax. This calculator adds up VAT, one-off registration tax with the age discount, the scrap deposit fee, the air-conditioning gas tax and the approval fee, using the 2026 rates. The registration tax is calculated exactly as in the Norwegian one-off tax calculator (in Norwegian). Enter the price in kroner: convert from euros, pounds or dollars first.

How the import works, step by step

1. Declare the car and pay VAT to Customs (Tolletaten) at the border, in the red zone. VAT is 25% of the customs value: the price you paid plus freight and insurance up to the Norwegian border. If you have owned the car for a while, you must document its value.
2. Get the car approved by the Norwegian Public Roads Administration (Statens vegvesen) at a vehicle inspection station. The calculator uses the fee for individual approval of a car up to 3,500 kg (NOK 1,750) as an example; check what applies to your car. Without valid foreign plates and insurance you need temporary plates (NOK 340 per day).
3. Pay the one-off registration tax, scrap deposit fee and gas tax to the Tax Administration (Skatteetaten). The registration tax is reduced by an age discount, and cars that are 20 years or older pay only the scrap deposit fee.
4. Register the car with the Public Roads Administration and hand in the foreign plates.

Worked example: a three-year-old car bought for NOK 200,000

An electric car weighing 1,900 kg, bought for NOK 200,000 with NOK 8,000 freight, pays no VAT because the customs value is below the NOK 300,000 exemption. Registration tax after a 30% age discount, plus the scrap deposit fee, comes to NOK 14,856, so the total is NOK 224,606. A petrol car with the same price, 1,450 kg and 125 g/km pays NOK 52,000 in VAT and NOK 140,352 in registration tax and scrap fee, and costs NOK 402,102. Both totals include the approval fee.

The air-conditioning gas tax

Imported cars pay a tax on the refrigerant in the air conditioning: NOK 1.639per kg multiplied by the gas's global warming potential. For the older gas HFC-134a the rate is NOK 2,130.7 per kg, and the Tax Administration says a passenger car normally holds about one kilogram, so around NOK 2,131. Newer EU cars have had to use a low-GWP gas since 2017, so the tax mostly hits older cars. The examples above are newer cars and are calculated without it; check the sticker under the bonnet for the gas type and amount.

Taxes by age of the car

VAT, registration tax and scrap deposit fee for a car bought at NOK 200,000 plus NOK 8,000 freight. Fees and gas tax excluded.

The table shows why importing an older petrol or diesel car often pays off more than importing a new one: the age discount grows with time while VAT follows the price. For electric cars under the exemption limit the taxes are small at any age, so any saving comes from the price difference between countries. Enter the price of a comparable car in Norway in the calculator to see whether the import pays off, and allow for your time, travel and risk. Afterwards, use the Norway income tax calculator to see what a car budget means for your take-home pay.

This page covers ordinary imports of a used car by a private person. If you are moving to Norway and bringing a car you have owned abroad, or importing a car for business, other rules can apply. Ask Customs and the Tax Administration before you buy.