Norway Tax Refund or Tax to Pay Calculator (Restskatt)

In Norway your employer withholds tax from every payslip, based on the tax deduction card (skattekort) you have. After the end of the year the Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) works out your tax from your tax return (skattemelding) and compares it with what was withheld. The result is your tax settlement (skatteoppgjør): either you have paid too much and get a refund (tilgode), or you have paid too little and get an invoice for the rest, called restskatt (underpaid tax, or tax to pay). This calculator estimates the settlement for 2026, which is finalised in 2027. It calculates the tax on your salary with the 2026 rates, adds 22% tax on income with no tax withheld, subtracts the tax withheld, and shows the interest if you wait for the invoice.

Worked example: NOK 600,000 in salary and NOK 13,000 withheld each month

• Calculated tax for 2026: NOK 144,183, an effective rate of 24.0%.
• Withheld: NOK 13,000 × 10.5 months = NOK 136,500. Table-based withholding takes tax in ten months and in half of one more, and none in the summer month when holiday pay is paid.
• Tax to pay: NOK 144,183 − NOK 136,500 = NOK 7,683.
• Interest if you wait for the invoice (3.12% for 416 days): NOK 273, so NOK 7,956 in total. That would be split into NOK 3,978 due 20 August 2027 and NOK 3,978 due 24 September 2027.
• Pay in NOK 7,683 by 31 May 2027 and the interest is zero. The correct withholding would have been about NOK 13,732 a month.

Interest on tax to pay (rate for income year 2025)

Rate 3.12% for income year 2025, counted from 1 July 2025 to 20 August 2026 (416days). This matches the Tax Administration's own example: NOK 10,000 gives NOK 356.

What causes tax to pay? Four common cases

Calculated with the 2026 rates, before interest. The pay rise gives tax to pay because your marginal tax rate is higher than the percentage on the card.

Deadlines and how to pay

If the settlement is ready before 1 July, the first invoice is due on 20 August. From NOK 1,000 the amount is split into two equal invoices, due 20 August and 24 September. If the settlement comes on 1 August or later, the invoices are due 3 and 8 weeks after you receive it. You can pay the whole amount straight away instead of waiting for the invoice, and you can pay a little at a time. If you cannot pay, apply for a payment agreement with the Tax Administration; you then pay extra interest.

Table-based or percentage-based withholding

With table-based withholding your employer deducts tax from a table that spreads your yearly tax over 10.5months. The "per month" option in the calculator then gives a good estimate. With a percentage card the same percentage is taken from every payment, including holiday pay, so use "total for the year" and add up the tax on your payslips. If you have several employers and more than one uses the table, too little is withheld and you will probably have tax to pay. See the tax table calculator for how the tables work.

If you are new to Norway, or leaving

Your first year is the one where surprises are most likely: you may have had two employers, changed jobs, or moved in the middle of the year. The tax return and settlement for a year come the year after, so plan to keep your bank account details up to date after you leave. If you are in the flat-rate scheme, there is no settlement at all; the withholding tax calculator shows how that scheme compares. To see your tax for a whole year, use the Norway income tax calculator, and check the travel deduction before you change your card.

What the calculator does not cover

It treats all income as salary, with the standard deduction and the personal allowance of a full year in tax class 1. It does not model pensions separately, part-year residence, the northern tax zone, foreign income, tax treaties, wealth tax or capital gains, and it does not apply to the flat-rate scheme. The interest uses the rate for income year 2025, because the rate for 2026 is not set until 2027. Your real settlement depends on your tax return.