Income and wealth abroad

You must declare all your foreign income and wealth in the Norwegian tax return. This applies regardless of whether you’ve paid tax abroad or the income/wealth is tax free in the country in question. 

Double taxation can be avoided by claiming deductions or a reduction of Norwegian tax.

Does this apply to me?

The information applies to you if you’ve had income or wealth abroad and must declare these in this year’s tax return.

If your income or wealth is from 2020, 2021 eller 2022, you can change your tax return for that income year.

If your income or wealth is from 2019 or earlier, you can avoid additional tax by applying for voluntary correction (so-called tax amnesty), or you can submit an appeal to make a change.

How to enter the information in your tax return

You must declare income and wealth during the last income year by changing your tax return.

You can register amounts in Norwegian kroner or foreign currencies.

Claiming a credit deduction

In this film, we’ll show you how to claim credit deduction for tax paid on salary abroad. The method can be used for both income tax and wealth tax.

Below, you can find information on what you need to do to declare various types of income and wealth abroad.

What income/wealth do have abroad?

Enter the salary in your tax return

Enter the amount you’ve earned from working abroad in your tax return. Not everybody must pay national insurance contributions on salary earned abroad. If you are in doubt, contact NAV to find out what applies to you.

Special rules apply to cross-border commuters and certain other groups of employees, such as seafarers, airline personnel, offshore workers and public sector employees.

I've paid tax abroad and want to claim a deduction from Norwegian tax

Whether you’re entitled to a deduction for tax paid abroad, depends on the tax treaty between Norway and the country in question.

There are three ways to avoid double taxation:

  1. The credit methodmeans a deduction in your Norwegian tax for the tax that you’ve paid abroad. This deduction is limited to the equivalent Norwegian tax on the same income. 
  2. Alternative allocation(the allocation method with progression reservations) means that your Norwegian tax is proportionally reduced. This ensures that no Norwegian tax is payable on the salary that is taxed abroad. The alternative allocation method must also be used when you claim a tax reduction according to the so-called one-year rule.
  3. The allocation method (exemption method) means that a salary earned abroad is exempted from taxation in Norway. This method is only used in the tax treaty between Norway and Malaysia and if you want to claim this exemption, we recommend that you contact NAV (nav.no) directly to clarify the national insurance contribution rate for your voluntary membership.

Documentation requirements

You are not required to attach any documentation to the tax return, but you must be able to present it if we ask you to.

If you believe you’re entitled to a deduction in your tax in Norway, you must be able to document tax payments abroad.

The documentation must originate from the tax authorities of the country in question, and show:

  • the relevant income year
  • that the tax has been finally assessed, not merely provisionally calculated
  • that the tax has been paid
  • the type of tax you’ve paid (tax on wealth or income)

Are you claiming a reduction of income tax according to the one-year rule? You must be able to prove that you’ve had a continuous work-related stay abroad for at least 12 months. You cannot have spent more than an average of six days per month in Norway throughout the duration of the stay.

The days are calculated for one year at a time. This means that you may spend ten days in Norway in one month, but throughout the entire year you can still not spend more than an average of 6 days per month in Norway. With regards to the years of exit and return, only entire months spent working abroad entitle you to stay 6 days in Norway.   

Up to and including 2022, the rules meant that the entire period abroad had to be taken into account in order to decide whether the number of days in Norway exceeded the average of 6 days a month. This applied even if the stay lasted for several years. If your working period abroad started in 2022 or earlier and your days in Norway exceed the 6 day average, it’s still the entire working period that must be considered.

The Norwegian Tax Administration can demand that any documentation in a non-Nordic language is translated into Norwegian or English by an authorised translator.

Enter your pension or disability benefit in your tax return

Enter the amount, the type of pension, and the country where it was paid in your tax return. Not everybody is required to pay National insurance contributions for pensions received abroad. If you are in doubt, contact NAV to find out what applies to you.

I've paid tax abroad and want to claim a deduction from Norwegian tax

Whether you’re entitled to a deduction for tax paid abroad, depends on the tax treaty between Norway and the country in question.

There are two ways to avoid double taxation:

  1. The credit methodmeans a deduction in your Norwegian tax for the tax that you’ve paid abroad. This deduction is limited to the equivalent Norwegian tax on the same income. If you’re claiming a credit deduction, you must enter this in your tax return. 
  2. In some rare cases, double taxation is prevented by using the alternative allocationmethod (the allocation method with progression reservations), meaning that your Norwegian tax is proportionally reduced.  You must enter this in your tax return. 

Documentation requirements

If you believe you’re entitled to a deduction in your tax in Norway, you must be able to document tax payments abroad.

The documentation must originate from the tax authorities of the country in question, and show:

  • the relevant income year
  • that the tax has been finally assessed, not merely provisionally calculated
  • that the tax has been paid
  • the type of tax you’ve paid (tax on wealth or income)

You are not required to attach any documentation to the tax return, but you must be able to present it if we ask you to.

The Norwegian Tax Administration can demand that any documentation in a non-Nordic language is translated into Norwegian or English by an authorised translator.

Learn about the tax rules that apply and whether you can claim any deductions when you own a property abroad.

Have you sold, inherited or taken on a property abroad? 
Learn about the tax rules that apply and whether you can claim any deductions.

Do you rent out a property abroad?
Learn about the tax rules that apply and whether you can claim any deductions.

If you are the owner of a foreign bank account, you must declare the account balance/deposits as at 31 December and any income from interest during the year.

You can find out if you have to pay tax on the interest, if you are entitled to a deduction for paid tax and how to avoid double taxation by answering a few questions in our tax wizard for interest income abroad. You’ll also learn how to register this information in your tax return.

This is what you must do:

1. Register the taxable value of shares and securities in your tax return

Enter the value as at 31 December of the income year.

2. Register taxable dividends on shares and mutual funds (share component)

If you’ve received dividends on shares or mutual funds, you register the total sum of dividends in your tax return. If you are claiming a deduction for risk-free return, you must register this in your tax return also. 

3. Enter gains or losses on the sale of shares and other securities

Foreign banks/fund managers do not usually issue profit/loss statements at the sale of shares. Therefore, you must calculate this yourself, according to Norwegian rules. You can claim a deduction for risk-free return in this calculation.

This is how you calculate gains or losses:

  • Find the value of the share/security at the time of purchase (input value). If you own several shares/securities of the same type, you must use the “first in, first out” (FIFO) principle.
  • Convert the input value to Norwegian kroner (NOK). You must use the currency exchange rate at the time of purchase.
  • Find the sales price of the share/security and convert it to NOK. You must use the currency exchange rate at the time of sale.
  • Any costs must also be converted to NOK. You must use the currency exchange rate at the time of paying the costs.
  • Gain or loss = Value of sale in NOK – input value in NOK – costs in NOK – possible deduction for risk-free return.

You enter gains or losses in connection with the sale in your tax return. 

4. Register interest income from funds, bonds, etc.

If you receive interest income from securities funds, bonds, or other interest-bearing securities, you must enter this in your tax return. I’ve paid tax abroad and want to claim a deduction in Norwegian tax

Whether you’re entitled to a deduction for tax paid abroad, depends on the tax treaty between Norway and the country in question.

If you’re claiming a credit deduction, you must enter this in your tax return. 

Documentation requirements

You are not required to attach any documentation to the tax return, but you must be able to present it if we ask you to.

If you believe you’re entitled to a deduction in your tax in Norway, you must be able to document tax payments abroad.

The documentation must originate from the tax authorities of the country in question, and show:

  • the relevant income year
  • that the tax has been finally assessed, not merely provisionally calculated
  • that the tax has been paid
  • the type of tax you’ve paid (tax on wealth or income)

The Norwegian Tax Administration can demand that any documentation in a non-Nordic language is translated into Norwegian or English by an authorised translator.

If you own, have sold, mined or bought cryptocurrency, we can help you register this in your tax return.

Taxpayers who have received business income abroad and who have paid tax to the country in question, can claim a credit deduction in their tax return.

To claim a deduction, you must add the card “Basis for credit deduction for business income abroad”.

Here you must enter:

  • the country you have received business income in
  • the total business income received in the country in question
  • the expenses you have incurred related to this business income
  • any financial income, financial expenses, extraordinary income and extraordinary expenses

You must also add the card “Credit deduction / tax paid abroad” to your tax return.

Here you must enter:

  • the country you have paid income tax to
  • the total income tax paid to the country in question

When you have completed both “Basis for credit deduction for business income abroad” and “Credit deduction / tax paid abroad”, you will see the calculated credit deduction under “Summary and tax calculation”.

Tax treaties help you avoid double taxation

Norway has entered into tax treaties with several countries, detailing how to avoid double taxation. The applicable method depends on the contents of the tax treaty between Norway and the respective country.