Reconciliation of Tax Withholding 2026
The reconciliation of withheld tax (forskuddstrekk) is updated as of 2026 with the following new features:
- Payment transactions in account 2600 Withheld Tax Payable will be identified by A-melding date (salary payment date) and amount.
- Support for downloading one a-melding per payroll payment in the period.
- Identification of payment transactions is done automatically but can be overridden by the user.
- Reconciliation of withheld tax is synchronized with the reporting period for balance reconciliation.
- New payment method for withheld tax with the discontinuation of the bank account for tax withholding.
Reconciliation between Accounting and A-melding (Tax/Salary Reporting)
By clicking the Altinn icon in the upper right, reconciliation information is requested from Altinn (A-07). The information is then produced by the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) and made available through the Altinn portal, before being downloaded by the Period & Year module.
Note: This is the same functionality as before, but during the first half of 2026, it will be replaced by expected new functionality with new reconciliation documentation.
Sections in the Reconciliation
The reconciliation of withheld tax is divided into the following sections:
- Withheld Tax Performed (Foretatt forskuddstrekk)
- Withheld Tax Paid (Betalt forskuddstrekk)
- Withheld Tax Payable (Skyldig forskuddstrekk)
1️ Section Withheld Tax Performed
The objective is to compare the withheld tax recorded in the accounts during the period with the withheld tax reported in the A-melding.
Column: Booked
- The amount for account 2600 Withheld Tax concerns account movement in the period, minus transactions identified as payments (see below).
- When transitioning to the new reconciliation solution for 2026, the payment transaction concerning the 6th term of 2025 (opening balance Jan 1, 2026) must be categorized with the payment category “Opening Balance”. The system automatically finds and categorizes this, provided the opening balance is paid in full. For other payment variants, the user must manually override.
- The column total should show the period’s withheld tax performed.
Column: A-melding
- This column shows withheld tax performed from the A-melding retrieved from the Norwegian Tax Administration via Altinn. This is shown for each individual A-melding with date/amount.
Column: Difference
- If there is a discrepancy, one should check that payments have been identified in the Withheld Tax Paid section.
2️ Section Withheld Tax Paid
The objective is to compare the recorded payment of withheld tax in the accounts during the period with the due withheld tax reported in the A-melding.
Column: Booked
- The column shows identified payments that fall due during the period.
- The due date may differ from the period (e.g., when salary is paid on the last working day of a month, but the due date is the first working day of the next month).
- If multiple A-meldings have been paid in the same payment, identification of the payment may be impossible, and the payment must then be registered manually under payment information.
Column: A-melding
- This column shows tax withholding due in the period from A-meldings retrieved from the Norwegian Tax Administration via Altinn. This is specified for each individual A-melding with date/due date/amount.
Column: Difference
- If there is a discrepancy, it indicates that there is unpaid withheld tax that was due during the period.
- There will not be a discrepancy caused by payments occurring after the due date, as long as payment has been made.
3️ Section Withheld Tax Payable
The objective is to compare withheld tax payable at the end of the period with withheld tax performed that is due after the end of the period.
Column: Booked
- The column shows the closing balance in the account with reference account 2600 Withheld Tax.
Column: A-melding
- This column shows non-due tax withholding in the period from A-meldings retrieved from the Norwegian Tax Administration via Altinn. This will typically be withheld tax performed on the last working day of the period that is due on the first working day of the next period.
Column: Difference
- If there is a discrepancy, it indicates that there is due withheld tax at the end of the period that has not been paid on the balance sheet date.