Taxes
If you stay in Norway for more than 183 days in a 12-month period, or more than 270 days in a 36-month period, you are considered a tax resident, in which case you will need to pay tax in Norway.
If you are not a tax resident in Norway but still have some types of income and wealth in Norway, you are also liable to pay tax in Norway.
Examples of income/wealth:
- income and wealth from real property in Norway
- dividends from shares in Norwegian companies. See information about reduced withholding tax on share dividends for foreign shareholders
- pensions, disability benefits, etc., from a Norwegian provider. See information about withholding tax on pensions and disabilities
- director’s fees from Norwegian companies
- salary from the Norwegian State
Source: The Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten)
Tax deduction/exemption cardIf you are working in Norway, you will need a tax deduction or exception card. Application can be done online.
Norway imposes a tax on wealth and this is based on the amount of wealth that one has as of 31 December in each year. Bank deposits, shares, cars and real property are some examples of what is considered as wealth. The tax is imposed on net wealth ie wealth after deductible debt.
For more info, see wealth tax and valuation discounts.
If you are working in Norway, you will need a tax deduction or tax exception card.
A tax deduction card is an electronic card that contains information such as your income, expenses, wealth and debt that you’ll have in the following year. It is issued to you by The Norwegian Tax Administration.
Your employer, for example, will use the relevant information to know how much tax should be deducted from your salary and you in turn, will see the amount that is deducted.
The Norwegian Tax Administration (NTA) issues the tax deduction card in December and it will be used in the next calendar year.
You’ll receive an email or text message to notify you that your tax deduction card is ready and your employer can retrieve your tax deduction card online. You do not have to give anything to your employer.
You are required to apply for a tax deduction card if you earn more than NOK 70,000.
However, if you do not receive a message by 9 January saying that your tax deduction card is ready, then it is likely that the NTA does not have have all the information that it needs, or you may previously have had an exemption card. As such, you need to apply for a tax deduction card online.
You will need the following information about what you think you’ll have in income, expenses, wealth and debt from 1 January to 31 December for the year in question in order to apply online.
- Income – a payslip, documentation from NAV or others that pay your pension, that shows how much money you will earn. You can also enter what you believe your income will be.
- Debt and wealth – Documents from the bank showing your debts, interest on debts and any wealth.
Note that your employer will retrieve your tax deduction card from the NTA so you will not receive it by post to your registered address.
You can retrieve your tax deduction card online, around five working days after applying for one.
Foreign workers
If you’re a foreign worker, you can order your tax deduction card here.
If you earn less than NOK 70,000
You can order a tax exemption card if you’ll earn less than NOK 70,000 during the year.
You must check the information on your tax deduction card and ensure that the information is accurate. If the information is incorrect, then you are likely to either underpay or overpay taxes. You can make changes at any time of the year.
The Norwegian Tax Administration uses income and expenses from the previous year, as well as what it believes to be your likely income in the new year, as the basis for the information that you see in the tax deduction card that you receive in December. Make changes if you see any mistakes.
Log in and check the numbers in your tax deduction card.
Pointers from The Norwegian Tax Administration on what you need to do after you have logged in:
- Check and, if necessary, correct the numbers specifying what you have earned and the deducted tax from January up until now. This information is found in your latest payslip, or you can add up the amounts on all your payslips/pension payments.
- Check and, if necessary, change the numbers for annual income, other income, and deductions. All amounts must be specified for the whole year and before deductions (gross amount).
- You’ll find "Total assessed tax for 2023” at the bottom of the page. If you’ve made any changes, and if this amount differs a lot from the crossed-out amount next to it, you should submit the changes.
The tax deduction notice is a confirmation of the changes that you’ve made and you can log in to see it. If you are not an online user, the tax deduction notice will be mailed to your registered address.
Either way, your employer will be notified automatically of the changes and will get access to your new tax deduction card. You do not have to give anything to your employer.
What’s the difference?
Your tax is deducted either on a table or a percentage basis.
Most employees with a fixed salary will receive a table-based tax deduction card.
According to The Norwegian Tax Administration (NTA), you will receive a percentage-based tax deduction card if you:
- receive pension benefits that entitles you to tax deductions, or
- receive several types of pension benefits, for example other pension and early retirement pension (AFP), or
- have a combination of salary and pension income, or
- have large deductions (debt interests, travel deductions, parental allowances etc.)
If you change your tax deduction card in February or later, the NTA will change your tax deduction card from table-based to percentage-based. You can also tick the box to indicate that you need a percentage-based tax deduction card if you change your tax deduction card.
You can find which table number or percentage rate is used for your deductions on your payslip and tax deduction card.
The NTA explains the difference between a table card and a percentage card as follows:
A table card is based on the relationship between income and deductions. The higher your monthly income is, the higher the tax deduction.
The table is based on the relationship between income and deductions in order to reduce the risk of you paying too little or too much tax. You must make sure that both the taxable incomes and deductions are listed with the correct amounts.
To avoid underpaying tax, it's important that only your main employer uses the table card. Employers other than the main employer must make a percentage card deduction.
If you receive several benefits from NAV during the same period, it's important that table-based deductions are only used for tax deductions in one of the benefits.
A percentage card has a fixed percentage rate that the employer uses to deduct tax. The percent is based on the income and deductions that are listed in your application for a tax deduction card.
Percentage deductions do not take changes in the relationship between income and deductions into consideration. If you have a higher or lower income or larger or smaller deductions than what is listed on your application, you might pay too little or too much tax.
Source: The Norwegian Tax Administration
If you work in Norway, you must have a tax deduction card. But when you apply for a tax deduction card as a foreign worker, you can either pay tax under the Pay As You Earn (PAYE) scheme or under the general tax rules.
If it’s your first year working in Norway or if you travel to Norway for temporary work assignments, you’ll become part of the PAYE scheme every time you apply for a tax deduction card. If you live abroad and receive director’s fees from Norwegian companies for example, you can also be part of the PAYE scheme.
Under this scheme, you’re taxed at a fixed percentage that your employer deducts from your salary. You do not submit a tax return or receive a tax assessment notice. Instead, you’ll receive a receipt for PAYE tax, which shows how much salary and tax your employer has reported to The Norwegian Tax Administration for the work you did in the previous year.
Electronic users will receive the receipt for PAYE tax for the income year 2022 in June 2023. Paper users will receive the receipt for PAYE tax in August.
According to the NTA you do not qualify for the PAYE scheme and must choose to be taxed under the general tax rules when you apply for a tax deduction card if you:
- earn more than NOK 643,800 per year for the 2022 income year and more than NOK 642,950 for the 2023 income year.
- expect to earn more than NOK 643,800 / 642,950 (including holiday pay and taxable expense allowances, etc.). But if you are uncertain as to whether you’ll earn more than the maximum amount, you can start with PAYE and opt out later.
- have other taxable income such as:
- benefits from NAV, for example sickness benefit or unemployment benefit, when you’re liable to pay national insurance contributions on the benefit
- parental benefits from NAV, also when your employer pays this in advance
- taxable income from business activity in Norway
- income earned on Norwegian ships
- income earned on the Norwegian continental shelf
- other income that’s only subject to national insurance contributions in Norway, for example salary from a Norwegian employer for work performed abroad when you’re a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme (often includes flying personnel, land transport drivers and cross-border commuters)
- income that’s not taxable to Norway according to a tax treaty, for instance if your employer does not have a permanent establishment and neither you nor your employer is liable to pay tax in Norway according to a tax treaty
- taxable salary from a Nordic employer where withholding tax is paid to another Nordic country according to the rules in the Nordic Tax Withholding Agreement (NT1)
- income that’s taxable to Svalbard
Inform the NTA if you have any of these kinds of income by applying for a new tax deduction card. That way you’ll receive the correct tax deduction card.
The Norwegian Tax Administration (NTA) recommends that you check how much tax you would pay in each of the two tax schemes.
General Tax Rules - You can use the tax calculator to calculate how much tax you would pay under the general tax rules. The deduction wizard is a useful tool to use to find out which deductions you’re entitled to.
PAYE scheme - In order to calculate how much tax you would pay in the PAYE scheme, you can subtract 25 percent from your salary. If you’re exempt from paying national insurance contributions in Norway, you should subtract 17.1 percent from your salary.
The PAYE scheme
General tax
You pay 25% tax.
If you’re exempt from paying national insurance contributions in Norway, you pay 17,1% tax.
The tax rate is adjusted according to your income and deductions.
When you receive your salary, the tax has already been deducted.
You have paid a preliminary tax, and the Tax Administration will check that the tax is correct next year.
You will not receive a tax return next year.
You will receive and submit a tax return next year.
Next year, you’ll receive a receipt for PAYE tax that shows the amount of tax you paid in Norway last year.
Next year you’ll receive a tax assessment notice that shows whether you’ve paid too much or too little tax in Norway last year. If you’ve paid too much tax, you’ll receive a refund. If you’ve paid too little tax, you’ll have to pay more tax.
The income limit for 2023 is NOK 644,700.
There’s no income limit.
You cannot claim any deductions.
You can claim deductions, for example for commuter expenses and interest expenses.
Source - The Norwegian Tax Administration
You may decide to opt out of the PAYE scheme and pay tax under the general tax rules if you deem this to be more profitable for you.
To do so, you will need to change your tax deduction card. It is important to note that only you can opt out in writing during your appointment at The Norwegian Tax Administration when your ID is checked.
If you are unable to log in, download and complete form RF-1209 – tax deduction card for foreign workers in order to opt out of the PAYE scheme.
The deadline for opting out of the PAYE scheme is 31 December, 3 years after the income year. For example, the deadline for opting out for the 2023 income year is 31 December 2026. Once you opt out of the PAYE scheme, you cannot rejoin the scheme in that same year.
Employees will receive a tax return in March or April every year. The deadline for submitting a tax return is 30 April.
There is no specific date when you will receive your tax assessment but you can generally expect to receive it sometime between March and November.
If you've paid too much tax, you will receive a tax refund.
If you've underpaid, you will receive an invoice with information on how and when to pay.
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Last modified 6 November 2023
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