Have you had employees or sub contactors working in Norway?

It is mandatory for all individuals if they have been working in Norway, regardless of how long, to file a Norwegian income tax return. However, the Norwegian income tax return has a key difference from a UK income tax return in that it does not include special pages or an in built calculation to determine the amount of tax that is due for the year. Therefore, the Norwegian tax return does not show the tax that is due and cannot be used as the evidence to verify the amount of Norwegian tax that a person has paid.

Instead of including the facility to calculate tax on the tax return, the Norwegian tax office process the returns when they receive them, generally from April onwards. They merge this information with any Norwegian payroll information they have and then issue a Tax Assessment Notice (TAN). The TAN summarises the income and assets that have been taxed, the deductions that have been claimed and any prepayments of Norwegian tax received. The final tax is computed and the TAN’s show any amounts of tax still to be paid or refunds due.

Historically the TAN’s were not issued to UK residents until the October following the income year in question. However this year, the Norwegian tax authorities have changed the arrangements and most of the 2016 TAN’s have already been issued.  Since June, they have been released in batches with the last batch due to be released in October  All individuals who have been working in Norway should ensure they receive their TAN. They should check it is correct, as it needs to be appealed if it is wrong. This may mean that employers have to arrange to collect them from employees and pass to their advisors for checking. If an individual is not certain what to do, they should seek the assistance of a professional advisor directly. Either way, it is important that the TAN is correct. Failure to appeal an incorrect TAN could result in an enquiry from either the Norwegian tax authority or HMRC. It may seem strange to suggest that failure to appeal a Norwegian TAN could lead to an enquiry from HMRC but that can be the case where there is net of tax credit in the UK involved.

Our next blog will provide more details on TANs, but should you require any assistance or have any questions relating to your TAN, please don’t hesitate to contact us.