Reporting external trade in services and purchase and sale of goods outside of Norway

Did you receive an administrative decision from Statistics Norway (SSB) regarding your duty to provide information for the official survey entitled Reporting external trade in services and purchase and sale of goods outside of Norway (RA-0692). This web page provides you with information on how to answer the survey.

What information must be reported?

For SSB to produce high quality statistics on external trade in services, we need information on Norwegian non-financial enterprises:

• Income generated by export of services to foreign customers.
• Expenses generated by import of services from foreign suppliers.

By services, we refer to output that derives from non-intangible commodities, such as transport services, reparations, IT-services, license fees, management fees etc. For some types of services, we also ask for income and expenditure for goods/materials that are included in the delivery. Furthermore, goods that are purchased and sold directly abroad also should be included.

Regardless of where the service is being delivered, the transactions must exchange between Norwegian registered enterprises and foreign actors.

Trade in services between group companies must be included in the survey, given that the transactions take place between Norwegian and foreign group companies.

For more information, see under DOCUMENTS in the column at the right.

Your answers are valuable

The purpose of the survey is to collect data for analysis of Norwegian enterprises' economic relations with abroad. Such information on Norwegian enterprises' economic relations with other countries is crucial for Norway's balance of payments, and to meet national and international reporting obligations to institutions as The Central Bank of Norway, Eurostat, IMF, OECD, and the UN.

The survey results will be included in the foreign balance of payments and the national accounts. The statistics is used by public institutions and politicians when negotiating trade agreements. Private sector uses the statistics to identify new markets, evaluate market developments, and future planning. The statistics is also used by media, researchers, students and trade organizations.

Who needs to complete the survey?

Statistics Norway collects information from a sample of about 2 700 enterprises. The sample is drawn from the Register of Legal Entities, Statistics Norway’s register of all Norwegian-registered legal entities in both the private and public sector.

The survey is conducted on a quarterly basis and the sample consists of a representative selection of the largest enterprises that are included as a «real choice», while a variety of smaller and medium-sized enterprises are included in what we call a «random sample».

If the enterprise has changed name, type of activity, or address, this must be reported using the Coordinated register notification. More information on this is available at www.brreg.no/home. The survey must still be answered if there has been no activity in the enterprise during the period to be reported.

How to submit the survey

The information is to be reported electronically via Altinn. For more information, see ‘How to answer surveys in Altinn on behalf of an enterprise’, located under DOCUMENTS in the column at the right.

Only those who have been assigned the relevant role can answer surveys on behalf of the enterprise in Altinn. To fill out this form, you need to have one of the following roles:

• reporter/sender
• responsible auditor
• accountant without signing rights
• accountant with signing rights

If you do not have one of the roles above, senior management can delegate this role on behalf of the enterprise.

If you have problems with login or roles, contact Altinn on +47 75 00 60 00, or find more information at www.altinn.no/en

Reporting Calendar 2020

Deadline for submission is the 25th of the following month, each quarter.

• 4th quarter 2019: January 25th, 2020
• 1st quarter 2020: April 25th, 2020
• 2nd quarter 2020: July 25th, 2020
• 3rd quarter 2020: October 25th, 2020
• 4th quarter 2020: January 25th, 2021

The duty to report

The Statistics Act gives Statistics Norway the authority to collect the information, and to impose a compulsory fine to any party failing to report within the deadline. For more information, see:

• The duty to provide information, and the right to collect information: Statistics Act, Section 2-2
• The right to impose a compulsory fine: Statistics Act, Section 2-3
• The right to enforce the collection of a fine and demand payment for costs: Tax Administration Act
• The right to appeal an administrative decision: Public Administration Act, Chapter VI