Vetle Valsgård says small businesses cannot afford accountants at 50,000 to 60,000 kroner a year, while Skatteetaten only warns about missing filings.
Valsgård's Sjekk Regnskapet checks self-kept books for about 7,000 kroner and has run its 30K Skattekutt Challenge for 17,100 businesses.
Sole proprietorships face up to 51.5 percent tax, limited companies 22 percent, and one physiotherapist saved over 100,000 kroner a year by switching.
Why Norwegian founders overpay tax and how to stop
Many Norwegian founders pay more tax than they have to, because nobody tells them what the rules allow. Small firms keep their own books, the tax authority only warns, and accountants rarely plan with clients. Vetle Valsgård built Sjekk Regnskapet to check founders' books and fix this. Small gaps in structure and deductions compound into millions over a career.
Takeaways
Founders overpay because nobody explains their options. Small businesses often cannot afford an accountant at 50000 to 60000 kroner a year, so they keep their own books and miss the rules. Skatteetaten writes mainly about missing filings and payments, which builds fear rather than awareness.
Legal structure can save six figures yearly. A sole proprietorship pays tax on its full profit at up to roughly 51.5 percent, while a limited company pays a flat 22 percent. A physiotherapist earning about 1.5m kroner saved over 100000 a year by switching and taking a 1000000 salary.
Small savings compound into millions over decades. One client never claimed car-use allowance in 18 years, losing 8000 to 10000 kroner annually. Vetle argues that over 15 to 20 years, money saved and invested compounds into millions, so correcting early matters.
Most accountants do not do tax planning. Vetle says firms work to billing targets such as 90 percent, with hours billed at around 1000 kroner. He sees this as part of why most accountants do not talk through tax planning with clients.
Almost no founder has full control of tax. Vetle says 99.7 percent of the businesses he has examined lacked full control of their tax position. A study of 76 companies, run through an AI tool, found an average possible saving of 184000 kroner a year.
Fear and missing structure drive the mistakes. Owners fear letting the business pay for anything and give no thought to legal structure. Most also have no clear approach to taking money out of the company. These habits recur across the cases Vetle sees.
Norwegian tax policy discourages ambitious founders. Vetle says starting a company in Norway is easy, but the tax level weakens motivation to build. He opposes the wealth tax on cars and machinery, and the exit tax. Knowing what he knows now, he would not have founded here in 2020.
What founders can do now
Read Vetle's book on tax cutting for founders, which takes about 1.5 hours.
Check past tax returns, which can usually be corrected about three years back.
Take the 30K Skattekutt Challenge, a three-day evening course costing about 1000 kroner, which 17100 businesses completed in the past year.
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On this episode 2
Show 1
Use the free digital tools on YouTube that compare tax outcomes for sole proprietorships and limited companies.
Treat tax rules as a list of things a business can do, not only things it must do.