Tax emigration - cessation of tax liability

Cessation of tax residency (tax emigration) means that your tax liability to Norway ends. Once you have emigrated for tax purposes, you’ll no longer receive a tax return from Norway.

Find out here when your tax liability can end.

Exception

When you have income or wealth from a source in Norway that is taxable in Norway, then you’ll still receive a tax return. You then have a limited tax liability to Norway.

Until the cessation of your tax residency gets approved, you have a global tax liability to Norway. This means tax liability for all your income and wealth, both from Norway and abroad. You must report this in your tax return every year until you’ve emigrated for tax purposes.

The tax liability can end

The moment when your tax liability to Norway can end depends on whether you’ve lived in Norway for more or less than 10 years during your lifetime.

 

If your total period of residence in Norway was less than 10 years before you moved from Norway, your tax liability to Norway ends from the moment when you fulfil all these conditions:

  • You must have moved abroad and live there on a permanent basis.
  • You have not stayed in Norway for more than 61 days in the year for which you claim cessation of tax liability. Every commenced day will count as a day of stay in Norway.
  • You or your related parties do not have access to any residential property in Norway in the year you claim cessation of tax liability.

You may still own a holiday home in Norway. You can also have a residential property that you’ve owned for at least five years, which neither you nor related parties have used as a home during this period. This exception is the so-called five-year rule.

If your total period of residence in Norway was more than 10 years before moving from Norway, your tax liability to Norway can only end three years from the moment when you settle permanently abroad. This means that you’re still liable to pay tax to Norway in the year you move and for at least three more years.

In addition to permanent residence abroad, the following conditions must be fulfilled during these three years:    

  • Your stay in Norway has not exceeded 61 days per year after you moved. Every commenced day will count as a day of stay in Norway.
  • You or your related parties did not have access to any residential property in Norway during any of these years.
  • You may still own a holiday home in Norway. You can also have a residential property that you’ve owned for at least five years, which neither you nor related parties have used as a home during this period. This exception is the so-called five-year rule.

How to claim cessation of tax residence (tax emigration)

Log in to your tax return

You can claim cessation of tax residence (tax emigration) under the topic “Other circumstances”.

Definitions

Neither you nor your close relatives can own, rent, or on any other basis have access to a residential property in Norway.

You may keep owning a holiday home in Norway and still fulfill the conditions for tax emigration.

You can also own claim cessation of tax residence even if you have a residential property that you’ve owned for at least five years, which neither you nor your close relatives have used as a home during this period.

If you’ve owned such a residential property for less than five years before moving abroad, this condition will first be fulfilled after you’ve owned the property for five years without using it as a home. After this five-year period, you must fulfil the conditions for cessation of tax residence. Find out when the tax liability can end for you. This can apply to residential properties that are rented out, for example, or residential properties that are actually used as holiday homes.

The term “related parties” means spouses, cohabiting partners, or underage children, when used in connection with the rules for cessation of tax residence.

Permanent residence means that you’re planning to stay abroad over time/permanently. The stay abroad must not be intended to be a temporary one. Planning to work abroad for a limited period, for example, does not qualify.

By residence period in Norway, we mean the period in which you have been a tax resident in Norway from date to date. The residence period is counted up to and including the year before you moved from Norway.