What it's worth
Net pay per year, single, national insurance paid in Norway, 2026. PAYE is simpler, but it is not usually cheaper: standard rules start with deductions and low rates that a flat 25% doesn't have.
| Gross salary | Standard | PAYE | Difference | A month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NOK 400,000 | NOK 323,017 | NOK 300,000 | −NOK 23,017 | −NOK 1,918 |
| NOK 600,000 | NOK 455,817 | NOK 450,000 | −NOK 5,817 | −NOK 485 |
| NOK 700,000 | NOK 522,217 | NOK 525,000 | +NOK 2,783 | +NOK 232 |
| NOK 725,050 | NOK 538,851 | NOK 543,788 | +NOK 4,937 | +NOK 412 |
| NOK 900,000 | NOK 638,047 | Not open | – | – |
PAYE leaves you more only from about NOK 668,000 to NOK 725,050 a year, and at most NOK 4,937 a year (NOK 411 a month). On a lower salary, standard rules are cheaper.
Who can use it
You can be taxed under PAYE if all of these are true:
- You come from abroad to work in Norway as an employee.
- You're in Norway for short work stays, or it's your first year as a Norwegian tax resident.
- Your pay for the year is no more than NOK 725,050.
- You can't use it if you have other taxable income in Norway, such as benefits from Nav (sick pay, unemployment or parental benefit), business income, or more than NOK 10,000 of capital income.
Most foreign workers who qualify are put in the scheme when they get their tax deduction card. It's voluntary: you can opt out.
How long it lasts
Until the end of your first year as a Norwegian tax resident. You become resident in the year you pass 183 days in Norway within 12 months (or 270 days within 36 months). Arrive by 1 July and stay, and that's your arrival year. Arrive later and it's the next year, so you get two tax years. Example for someone who arrives in September 2026:
After that you're taxed like anyone living in Norway, under standard rules, with a tax return every year.
How to apply
- 1Apply to the Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) for a tax deduction card, and go to an ID check at a tax office if you don't have a Norwegian ID number yet.
- 2If you qualify, you join PAYE automatically and your card says kildeskatt på lønn. Your employer deducts the flat rate from all your pay, holiday pay included, and reports it.
- 3That deduction is your final tax for the year. You get no tax return and no tax assessment, only a receipt for the tax you paid, the next June.
What changes, what doesn't
- Your pay is taxed at a flat 25%, national insurance included
- No minimum standard deduction and no personal allowance (NOK 114,540)
- No other deductions: mortgage interest, travel between home and work, union fees, pension contributions
- No step tax, and no tax return
- National insurance is paid in Norway, unless you're covered at home with an A1 form (then the rate is 17.4%)
- Your employer pays employer's contributions as usual (none if you're outside Norwegian national insurance)
- Your tax residence: PAYE is a way of paying tax, not a different status
When it ends, and opting out
From your second year as a resident, standard rules apply. If you earn more than NOK 725,050 in the year, you can't stay in PAYE: standard rules apply to that whole year, and you need a new tax deduction card.
You can also leave earlier, when standard rules are cheaper for you: for example on a lower salary, or with a mortgage or commuting costs to deduct. Skatteetaten's tax calculator compares both schemes for 2024 to 2026. Opt out at your ID check, when you apply for your tax deduction card, or later online with form RF-1515 (or on form RF-1209 if you can't log in). Your employer can't do it for you. You then get a tax return and are taxed under standard rules for the whole year, with the tax already deducted counted in. You have until 31 December three years after the tax year: for 2026, until 31 December 2029. You can't rejoin for the same year.
Compare PAYE and standard rules for your salaryOther tax benefits in Norway
None for moving there. Norway's 10% standard deduction for foreign workers was abolished in 2019, when the PAYE scheme started.
Sources and limits
- Skatteloven (Norwegian Tax Act), chapter 19: kildeskatt på lønn for utenlandske arbeidstakere · Lovdata
- PAYE (Pay As You Earn) for foreign workers, conditions and rates for 2026 · Skatteetaten
- Tax when you move to Norway, on tax residence (183 days within 12 months, 270 within 36) · Skatteetaten
- Rates for 2026: tax on general income, step tax, national insurance, minimum standard deduction, personal allowance · Skatteetaten
- Opt out of the PAYE scheme (RF-1515) · Skatteetaten
Information, not tax advice. The salary figures come from our Norway calculation, tested against cases N1 to N4 worked out by hand from the adopted rates (computed, not yet checked against Skatteetaten's tax calculator).