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Electricity duty

Elavgift Electricity duty Electricity tax Consumption tax on electric power

A Norwegian excise duty per kilowatt-hour consumed, collected by the grid company on the grid rent invoice and paid to the state.

Definition

The electricity duty is levied on consumption of electric power and collected through the grid rent, not through the electricity supplier. The grid company therefore acts as collector on behalf of the state, and is responsible for ensuring that the amount reported matches what was invoiced. The rate is set annually, and certain consumption groups and geographic areas have a reduced rate or an exemption. The duty is therefore not one number that applies to everyone: it depends on who the customer is and where the metering point sits, and both can change during a year.

In practice

In practice the turn of the year is the most common source of error. A rate change applies from a date, and an invoice period crossing that date has to be split: consumption before it is taxed at the old rate and consumption after it at the new one. Systems that apply one rate to the whole period produce the wrong amount on the customer’s invoice AND the wrong basis in the report to the state, and the two errors are rarely discovered at the same time. If the customer’s duty status changes mid-period, the same splitting requirement applies. That is also why the duty calculation belongs on the same traceable basis as the rest of the settlement, rather than as a surcharge computed at the end.

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Electricity duty

Definition

In practice

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