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The concept of “cooperative compliance” has been used by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as a guideline for reform of tax administrative practices in many countries (OECD, 2013, 2014). The purpose of this working paper is to give a description of the institutional context for the adaptation of the guidelines in Norway, describing viewpoints from each stakeholder group.

The data is based on analyses of project documents from the Norwegian Tax administration, annual reports, white papers, tax memos and tax strategies from large companies and tax advisors, and 31 interviews with tax officials, tax managers and tax advisors.

Findings are that the motivations for paying or avoiding taxes vary, both within the stakeholder groups and between them. The national tax administration is concerned with compliance as the transparency and fairness of taxpayer treatment, measured in terms of the filing and assessment procedures. The companies are concerned with tax compliance as paying what it costs and fair competition, while the tax advisors balance commercial and legal aspects of different compliance alternatives. Regardless of differences in positions and tasks done, the infrastructure for collaboration and the normal process of work that feeds into it, the common denominator is pragmatism, working out a way to handle tax administration with as little fuss as possible and with as limited use of resources as possible.