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TAXES

EXPLAINED: Norway’s global tax system

Norway has a system which taxes residents on their worldwide income. The system doesn’t just apply to income tax. 

Pictured is a person preparing to go through their taxes.
Norway has a global tax system, which means residents are required to pay money on income earned abroad. Pictured is a person preparing to go through their taxes. Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Tax residents of Norway must pay tax to the Norwegian authorities on income earned in the country or abroad. 

If you stay in Norway for more than 183 days during a twelve-month period, you will become a tax resident of Norway. The same applies when you visit Norway for more than 270 days during a thirty-six-month period. 

Should you stay in Norway for more than 183 days in the year you first move to Norway, you will be considered a tax resident from your first day in Norway. 

The Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) has more information on what constitutes a tax resident on its website. It also has more information on those with a limited tax liability and how taxable income works after you leave Norway. 

READ ALSO: Five things foreigners should know about income tax in Norway

What the tax administration considers income can come in many forms. The Norwegian Tax Administration considers salary and wages earned abroad while a tax resident, any income from real estate (such as the sale of foreign property or renting a property abroad out), interest made on foreign savings and any money made from shares and securities abroad as taxable. 

You are required to declare these forms of income when filling out your Norwegian tax return. Taxpayers must also add any foreign debts or liabilities (such as a student loan or mortgage) when filling out a Norwegian tax return – doing so can result in tax deductibles. 

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You can claim a credit deduction on your Norwegian tax return to avoid double taxation on income already taxed in other countries. This is where the tax you have paid abroad is deducted from your tax liabilities in Norway. 

Credit deductions can be applied to all types of income abroad, such as interest and money made from shares. Generally, the tax abroad must have been settled and paid for in the same income year. 

When adding income from abroad to your tax return, you can include any tax you have paid in the country where you received the money. This will then update your tax return. Norway’s tax administration has a dedicated section on its website for wealth and income abroad, which includes a video on how to claim a credit deduction.

Norway’s global tax also applies to other forms of tax. An example is a wealth tax. Those with a net wealth exceeding 1.7 million kroner for single or unmarried taxpayers and 3.4 million kroner for married couples in Norway.

READ ALSO: What you need to know about wealth tax in Norway

Net wealth means assets and wealth minus any debts and liabilities. For the purposes of the wealth tax, properties abroad don’t receive the same valuation discount one primary home in Norway does. Shares and income abroad also contribute to your global wealth, meaning the two main forms of taxation many will need to be aware of in terms of Norway’s global system are income tax and wealth tax. 

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For members

ECONOMY

What lower inflation in Norway means for you 

Inflation in Norway continues to slow. However, the cost of living in the country isn’t slowing as quickly as economists expected. Here’s what that means to you. 

What lower inflation in Norway means for you 

Inflation is slowing 

Norway’s Consumer Price Index, CPI, which measures changes in prices for household goods and services, has slowed yet again. 

Between April last year and the same month this year, prices in Norway rose by 3.6 percent. It marks the third time that price increases have been below four percent since the start of 2022. 

The figures, released by Norway’s national data agency Statistics Norway, mark the fourth month in a row where the 12 monthly inflation figure has been lower than the yearly figure from the month before. This means prices are rising less rapidly than before. 

“Price growth decreased for the fourth month in a row in April. Prices are still higher than they were at the same time last year for most goods and services, but they are generally rising more slowly than before,” Espen Kristiansen at Statistics Norway said. 

Food remains one of the biggest contributors to inflation 

The price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose by 3.3 percent from March to April, according to Statistics Norway. 

Chocolate, soft drinks, coffee, and citrus foods saw the biggest price increases, which the national data agency called “unusual.” 

What wasn’t unusual, however, was the cost of food rising following Easter, when many supermarkets ran offers to compete for customers. 

“The rise must be seen in the context of the fact that large offer campaigns in connection with Easter dampened prices in March,” Kristiansen said. 

The figures for April show that food prices in Norway have increased by 6.8 percent compared to a year ago. 

The rising cost of food and drink in Norway could potentially outgrow wages this year, even if expected pay bumps will outpace forecasted inflation overall. 

Economists expected inflation to fall more 

Inflation hasn’t eased as much as some experts were expecting. Core inflation, which excludes energy prices and taxes, was measured at 4.4 percent year on year in April. This is above what economists surveyed by the newswire Reuters expected. 

Norges Bank, the country’s central bank, raised the policy rate to a 16-year high of 4.5 percent in December. The bank has said that inflation should generally be around two percent, so it has used interest rates to curb price increases. 

As inflation isn’t falling much quicker than expected, economists predict that the central bank may wait until December before slashing rates – which for consumers means that loan and mortgage repayments will remain high for the foreseeable future. 

“The fall in inflation has not been much greater than Norges Bank has thought. This, therefore, indicates that an interest rate cut may come in December instead of September,” Kjersti Haugland, chief economist at DNB Markets, told public broadcaster NRK

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