Establishing a Danish-owned company in Norway

Audience Who this page is for

This page is written for three Danish audiences who keep arriving at registercompany.no with the same questions:

• Danish ApS owners who already invoice Norwegian customers and want a Norwegian organisasjonsnummer, an MVA number and a local invoicing address — without spinning up a separate Norwegian legal entity.
• Danish founders who are launching a brand-new business and have decided that Norway, not Denmark, is the right home jurisdiction for their company — typically because their customers, regulators or investors are Norwegian.
• Danish board members and CEOs who have been asked to sit on the board of a foreign-owned Norwegian AS and want to understand what aksjeloven § 6-11 actually requires from them.

Intermediary AS is built for these cross-border cases. We do not help Norwegian citizens set up companies for themselves — Altinn handles that natively. We exist because the Danish-to-Norwegian path involves an extra layer of identity verification, language, banking and tax-treaty logistics that the public portals do not solve end-to-end.

Organisation form NUF vs Norwegian AS — which one fits?

The first real decision is not a form to fill in; it is a choice of legal vehicle. For Danish owners there are two realistic options. The NUF (Norskregistrert utenlandsk foretak) is a Norwegian-registered branch of your existing Danish ApS — same legal entity, new Norwegian organisasjonsnummer. The AS (Aksjeselskap) is a brand-new, independent Norwegian limited company, comparable in form to a Danish ApS.

Process Our four-step Denmark→Norway flow

For the underlying eID and trust-service layer that powers step 1, see our dedicated trust services page.

Identity Why MitID is the natural starting point

Danish MitID is a notified eID at eIDAS assurance level Substantial under Regulation (EU) 910/2014. Because Norway has implemented the eIDAS regulation through the EEA agreement and Lov om elektroniske tillitstjenester (LOV-2018-06-15-44), a MitID login that we receive via our trust-service broker Idura Verify is legally recognised in Norway. In plain language: the same MitID you use to log in to your Danish bank, to skat.dk or to your Danish ApS in CVR is enough for us to verify you as an Ultimate Beneficial Owner of a Norwegian company.

This matters because it removes the historical bottleneck of Danish founders not having a Norwegian D-number or BankID. You do not need either to start. We obtain a signed token from MitID containing your verified full legal name, date of birth and a pseudonymous UUID. The full CPR number is only released if you separately consent — and we only ask for it where Norwegian law actually requires it, such as for an AS director registration.

Tax 22 % selskapsskatt, MVA & the DK-NO double-tax treaty

Norwegian corporate income tax (selskapsskatt) is a flat 22 % for 2026. There is no progressive rate, and no separate municipal corporate tax on top.

• NUF: taxed only on the profit attributable to the Norwegian permanent establishment. Profits earned in Denmark by the same ApS stay in the Danish tax base.
• AS: taxed on its worldwide profit in Norway. Distributions to a Danish parent ApS are normally exempt from Norwegian withholding tax under the Norway-Denmark double-tax treaty when the parent holds at least 10 % of the shares.

The Norway-Denmark double-tax treaty (signed 1996, with later protocols, and the Nordic multilateral convention) prevents the same income from being taxed twice. In practice, for most Danish-owned NUFs and ASes we register, the result is:

• Norwegian profit → 22 % Norwegian selskapsskatt in Norway, no further Danish corporate tax on the same profit.
• Dividends from a Norwegian AS to a Danish ApS holding ≥ 10 % → 0 % Norwegian withholding tax, taxed as participation income in Denmark.
• Salary paid to a Danish-resident director by a Norwegian AS → taxed in the country where the work is physically performed (treaty article on dependent personal services).

On the indirect side, MVA (Merverdiavgift, Norwegian VAT) registration becomes mandatory once taxable turnover in Norway exceeds NOK 50 000 over a 12-month period. The standard MVA rate is 25 %, with 15 % on foodstuffs and 12 % on certain services. If you only sell low-value goods from abroad to Norwegian consumers, the simplified VOEC scheme may apply instead — we will tell you which one fits during step 2.

Governance Board residency & aksjeloven § 6-11

Aksjeloven § 6-11 requires that the daglig leder (general manager) and at least half of the members of the board of a Norwegian AS are resident in Norway or another EEA state, or are citizens of an EEA state who are domiciled there.

Because Denmark is an EEA state through its EU membership, a Danish-resident CEO and a Danish-resident board satisfy the residency requirement on their own. No Norwegian-resident director is mandatory. This is one of the most common misconceptions we correct in our intake calls.

A NUF has no separate Norwegian board — it inherits the governance of the Danish ApS. The only Norwegian role you must appoint for a NUF is the representant (a contact point in Norway who can receive official correspondence), and Intermediary AS can act as that representative.

Banking Bank account, KAR-register & share capital

For a Norwegian AS, Brønnøysund will not issue the organisasjonsnummer until the NOK 30 000 share capital has landed in a dedicated Norwegian capital account and a bank confirmation (bekreftelse på innbetalt aksjekapital) has been issued. Our partner banks accept SEPA transfers from Danish ApS-owned accounts for this, so you do not need a personal trip to Norway to fund the company.

Once registered, the Norwegian company is enrolled in the KAR-register (Konto- og adresseregister) maintained by the tax authorities, which lets Norwegian counterparties verify that bank account numbers really belong to the registered company — an important fraud-prevention step that Norwegian customers will expect from any supplier they pay.

For a NUF there is no Norwegian capital requirement. The branch can operate using the Danish ApS's existing bank, although in practice we recommend opening a small Norwegian operating account once MVA registration is in place — it simplifies refunds from Skatteetaten and payments to Norwegian suppliers.

Timeline Realistic timeline & what we need from you

From the moment you successfully log in with MitID, a typical NUF registration completes within 5–10 working days and a Norwegian AS within 10–20 working days, almost entirely driven by bank onboarding and Brønnøysund processing time. To start, we need:

• The Danish CVR number of the parent ApS (for a NUF) or the personal MitID identification of every founder (for an AS).
• The intended Norwegian company name, business description and primary NACE activity code.
• For an AS: confirmation of the share-capital structure (founders, percentages, share classes if any).
• For board members: an indication of role (chair, board member, daglig leder) and confirmation of EEA residency.

Everything else — articles of association in Norwegian, founders' statement (stiftelsesdokument), Brønnøysund filing forms, MVA application, the bank capital-account opening for AS — is drafted and submitted by Intermediary AS and our Norwegian state-authorised partners.

FAQ Frequently asked questions

Can I use my Danish CVR-registered ApS as the founder of a Norwegian AS instead of registering as a personal founder?
Yes. We routinely set up Norwegian AS-es with a Danish ApS as the sole shareholder. The ApS is then the legal parent and the Norwegian AS is its subsidiary, which is usually the cleanest structure for tax and liability purposes.

Will I need a Norwegian D-number?
You will only need a Norwegian D-number if you personally take on a registered role in a Norwegian AS (founder, board member, CEO). NUFs do not require their owners to obtain a D-number. When a D-number is needed, we apply for it on your behalf as part of the Brønnøysund filing — you do not have to interact with Skatteetaten separately.

How does the Norwegian Transparency Act (Åpenhetsloven) affect a Danish-owned NUF or AS?
The Transparency Act applies to larger enterprises (revenue > NOK 70m, balance > NOK 35m, >50 FTE) regardless of where the owner sits. Most newly-registered Danish-owned NUFs and ASes fall well below those thresholds in their first years, but we flag this proactively for any group that is close to the limits.

What does it cost?
Pricing is published on the front page of registercompany.no in real time. We do not have hidden Danish-customer surcharges — the same prices apply.