Norway Withholding Tax Calculator 2026 (Kildeskatt)

If you are a foreign worker who is new in Norway, or who works here for a short period, you will probably be taxed under a simplified scheme called withholding tax on salary (kildeskatt på lønn). The Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) calls it PAYE, short for Pay As You Earn. Your employer deducts a flat 25% of every payment, and then your tax is settled: you do not file a tax return and you do not get a tax assessment notice. The scheme is voluntary. You can stay in it, or opt out and be taxed under the ordinary rules, where the rate depends on your income and you can claim deductions. This calculator shows the withholding tax on your pay and compares it with what the ordinary rules would give, so you can see which is better for you.

The rate: 25% or 17.4%

The rate is 25% in 2026, and it already includes the national insurance contribution (trygdeavgift) of 7.6%. If you are not a member of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, for example because you are covered in another EEA country and have an A1 form, you pay no contribution to Norway and the rate is 17.4% (25% minus 7.6% is 17.4%). The flat rate applies to all pay and to the taxable value of benefits in kind, and there are no deductions at all: no standard deduction, no personal allowance, no commuter or loan interest deduction.

Who can join, and who cannot

• You can join if you earn less than NOK 725,050 in 2026 (about EUR 66,890 or USD 76,270) and you either make short work stays in Norway (fewer than 183 days in 12 months or fewer than 270 days in 36 months) or are in your first year as a tax resident.
• You cannot join if you earn more than the limit, have been tax resident for more than a year, have business income in Norway, receive NAV benefits such as sickness, unemployment or parental benefit (unless you are exempt from national insurance contribution on them), or have capital income above NOK 10,000.

You do not have to choose when you arrive. When you apply for a tax deduction card (skattekort) as a new worker, you are normally put in the scheme automatically. If you are unsure whether you will stay under the income limit, you can start in the scheme and opt out later.

Worked example: NOK 45,000 a month for 6 months

• Pay in Norway: NOK 270,000. Withholding tax at 25%: NOK 67,500 (NOK 11,250 a month), so you keep NOK 202,500.
• Ordinary rules: the standard deduction (minstefradrag) is NOK 47,850 and the personal allowance (personfradrag) is NOK 57,270. Both are cut to 6/12 of the full-year amounts (for the standard deduction, of its cap) because you are in Norway for 6 months. That leaves ordinary income of NOK 164,880, taxed at 22%: NOK 36,274.
• Add national insurance contribution of NOK 20,520 and bracket tax (trinnskatt) of NOK 746: NOK 57,540 in total.
• The ordinary rules are NOK 9,960 cheaper, but you have to file a tax return.

Withholding tax or the ordinary rules: comparison

The table shows how much lower your tax would be under the ordinary rules than under withholding tax. A negative figure means withholding tax is cheaper. It assumes membership of the National Insurance Scheme and no other deductions.

"Over the limit" means the income is above NOK 725,050, so the ordinary rules apply anyway. A full year at NOK 725,050 gives an effective tax rate of 25.7% under the ordinary rules, against 25% withholding tax. Euro and dollar figures are approximate, converted at Norges Bank mid-market rates of 25 September 2026 (EUR 1 = NOK 10.84, USD 1 = NOK 9.51).

The pattern is simple. The lower your pay and the shorter your stay, the more you lose on the flat rate, because you give up the standard deduction and the personal allowance. At higher pay the flat rate can be the cheaper one. Deductions you could claim under the ordinary rules, such as commuter costs for food and lodging or loan interest, move the balance further towards opting out. Use the box for other deductions in the calculator to test that.

Opting out

You opt out yourself in the Tax Administration's online service; your employer cannot do it for you. The deadline is 31 December, three years after the income year: for 2026 that is 31 December 2029. You cannot rejoin the scheme for the same income year. After opting out you get a tax return and a tax assessment notice, the tax already deducted is credited to you, and you can end up with a refund or with tax to pay. The tax refund calculator explains how that settlement works.

If you are new to Norway, or leaving

Tax residence in Norway generally starts once you stay more than 183 days in a twelve-month period, or more than 270 days in a thirty-six-month period. The first year you are tax resident you can still be in the scheme, but after that you move to the ordinary rules and get a normal tax deduction card. Work out your tax for a full year with the Norway income tax calculator, and see the tax table calculator for how withholding works under the ordinary rules. When you leave, keep your payslips and the PAYE receipt you get the following year.

What the calculator does not cover

It does not decide whether you are tax resident, and it does not handle foreign income, tax treaties, social security agreements, the Nordic withholding agreement, seafarers, Svalbard or the lower tax rate in Finnmark and Nord-Troms. The comparison assumes tax class 1 (single) and that all your income was earned in Norway in 2026. The Tax Administration has its own calculator that compares the two schemes for your exact situation.