You have a right to appeal against any decision made by Norwegian Customs. The time limit for an appeal is normally six weeks from the date of receipt of the decision.
The right to appeal: You have a right to appeal against the decision.
Where to send the appeal? It is stated in the decision where the appeal is to be sent. If the decision remains unchanged, your appeal will be forwarded to the appellate instance.
In some cases, the appeal is to be sent to the Norwegian Tax Administration. For more information, please visit the website of the Norwegian Tax Administration.
The time limit for an appeal: The time limit for an appeal is normally six weeks from the date of receipt of the decision. The time limit is stated in the decision. It is sufficient that the appeal has been delivered to a supplier of postal services before the end of the time limit. If the appeal is sent late, the date of receipt of the decision should be indicated.
If you send the appeal after the time limit, you may risk that the appeal will be rejected. You have the possibility to apply for an extension of the time limit. In the application, you have to include the reason for the application for extension of the time limit.
The right to claim a reason: If you are of the opinion that Norwegian Customs has not given a reason for the decision, you may claim such a reason before the expiration of the time limit of the appeal. The new time limit will then be based on the date of the receipt of the reason.
The content of the appeal: In the appeal, you have to include
- which decision you dispute
- the reason behind the appeal
- your desired outcome(s)
- if relevant, other information that might have an influence on the assessment of the appeal
Please remember that the appeal needs to be signed.
Postponement of the implementation of the decision: Even though you have a right to appeal, the decision can be implemented immediately. Nevertheless, you may apply for a postponement of the implementation of the decision until the end of the time limit for an appeal or until the appeal has been concluded.
Decisions regarding violation fines according to the Customs Act section 16-17 are automatically postponed when appealing. The new time limit for payment will be set to six weeks after the final decision has been given.
The right to access the case documents and to seek guidance: With certain limitations, you have the possibility to access the case documents. The rules regarding this can be found in the Public Administration Act section 18 and 19, as well as in the Tax Administration Act section 5-4. If you want additional guidance, you may contact Norwegian Customs.
Expenses related to the appeal: You may apply to get expenses related to necessary legal assistance covered according to the rules on free legal aid. Normally, certain income- and capital limits apply. The County Governor, or alternatively your lawyer, may advise you more related to this. If the decision has been changed to your advantage, you may claim the expenses related to the change of the decision to be covered according to the Public Administration Act
Appeal to the Parliamentary Ombud: If you are of the opinion that you have been treated unjustly by Norwegian Customs, you may appeal to the Parliamentary Ombud. The Ombud does not have the authority to change the decision, but it may give an assessment of how Norwegian Customs has handled the case, and if the case handling has been subject to error or neglect. This does however not apply to decisions made by the King in Council.
Legal proceedings: The access to legal proceedings against Norwegian Customs will be notified in the decision.