VAT Expert in Europe

Selling in Europe with Incoterm DDP. Eurofiscalis handle your VAT registration & declarations | I want to learn more

VAT Expert in Europe
[obflink-button class="fa1" label=" Book a meeting" link="https://calendly.com/eurofiscalis-francophone" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer" display="not_home" text="#FFFFFF" background="transparent"]
[obflink-button class="fa4" label=" Contact us" link="https://www.eurofiscalis.com/en/contact/" target="_self" rel="noreferrer" display="not_home" text="#FFFFFF" background="transparent"]
VAT Expert in Europe

Selling in Europe with Incoterm DDP. Eurofiscalis handle your VAT registration & declarations | I want to learn more

Selling in Europe with Incoterm DDP.

Eurofiscalis handle your VAT registration & declarations

I want to learn more

What you need to know as an EU employer in Norway

If you have employees working in Norway, there are several important rules and reporting obligations you’ll need to be aware of.

Are you planning to install equipment in Norway for 3 months under a contract? Will you be sending employees to Norway to do some repairs?

Has your Norwegian client asked you to obtain health, safety, and environment (HSE card) credentials for your workers? If so, this guide is for you.

 

In Norway, any employee working even temporarily must be reported from day one. In this blog, we’ll walk you through the key obligations and answer important questions such as: 

One of the most critical is the duty to provide information, specifically reporting employee details in the mandatory A-melding. This is an electronic report sent to the Norwegian Tax Administration every month, providing authorities with insight into employment relationships, salaries, benefits, and tax deductions for employees in Norway. 

 

You as a foreign employer with employees working in Norway must comply with the same rules and reporting obligations as Norwegian employers. This includes submitting the A-melding and handling tax deductions for your employees. Even if employees are paid in their home country and taxed there, the employer must still report in Norway. If the foreign employees become tax liable in Norway, Norwegian payslips are also required. 

Here is an overview of what you must include in the A-melding: 

Reporting your employees in A-melding

All employees working in Norway, regardless of where they live, must be reported in the A-melding. Foreign employees must obtain a D-number, a temporary identification number needed for tax and administrative purposes. This ensures that your employees are properly registered, and the employer complies with Norwegian laws regarding taxation and employment. Additionally, the company must be registered in Norway with a NUF number for legal reporting. 

HSE Cards

For workers in construction, cleaning, and manual car care, obtaining an HSE (safety ID) card is mandatory. If you are installing or working on a construction site, strict safety regulations apply, and workers cannot enter the site without a valid HSE card. Your client will likely inform you about this requirement.

Both your company and employees must be registered in the relevant public registers to order the card. HSE cards can be ordered through hmskort.no and must include the worker’s photo, name, and company details. You are responsible for ordering and managing these cards.

 

You can read more about HSE cards here: HSE Card in Norway | Eurofiscalis International 

 

As your compliane service provider we will take care of this, book a meeting with this link.  

How and when to report

You must submit A-melding monthly, reporting salaries or benefits for the month the employees are paid. You can submit the A-melding through a payroll system integrated with Altinn or directly via the Norwegian Tax Administration’s website, here. 

How do reporting obligations and tax liabilities work in Norway?

No wage tax liable in Norway, what to report?

It is important to note that even if your employees are not always subject to taxation in Norway, the employer is still required to report to Norwegian authorities. We will handle the necessary applications in these cases. 

This means that salary and employment information must be accurately reported, even when no tax or employer’s national insurance contributions apply. In such cases, Norwegian payslips can still be issued to ensure proper documentation and compliance with regulations. When there is no tax liability, employer contributions are not required either.

Reporting with wage tax liability in Norway

When employees are subject to tax in Norway, your company is obligated to both report and pay wage taxes, including withholding tax and employer’s national insurance contributions to the Norwegian tax authorities. Regardless of wage tax liability, the reporting requirement ensures proper management of employment conditions in accordance with Norwegian laws. Norwegian Payslips needs to be issued to document tax deductions and employer contributions in line with Norwegian regulations. It is essential to work with a reliable service provider who can assist you in meeting these obligations effectively. The withholding wage tax should be paid monthly on a spesific Norwegian ank account, which is outside of the control of the employer. 

Norwegian payslips

You are required to issue Norwegian payslips when your employees are subject to tax in Norway, ensuring proper documentation of salaries and tax deductions. However, these payslips can only be generated through Norwegian accounting systems, which may be inaccessible to foreign companies, potentially posing challenges in meeting this requirement. To issue Norwegian payslips, a foreign company must be registered as a Norwegian Registered Foreign Company (NUF).

 

We can assist with this!

Permanent establishment and wage tax liability in Norway

If your company operates in Norway for more than 12 months, it may be considered to have established a permanent establishment under Norwegian tax rules and tax treaties. This can include an office, factory, construction site, or any location where business is regularly carried out. Once your company is assessed as a permanent establishment is in place, your company will become liable for tax in Norway on income generated from operations in the country. In addition, all of your employees will be subject to wage tax in Norway from day one, as well as social security contributions

 

Tax treaties between Norway and other countries can influence how tax liability is allocated. According to these agreements, if your company has a permanent establishment in Norway, it may become liable for tax on income related to the business activities conducted here. You would then be obligated to pay tax on the portion of income that comes from your operations in Norway. 

 

We assist with reporting, including submitting A-meldingen, contact us here! 

Wage tax liability in Norway

When your company has a permanent establishment in Norway, your employees will become tax liable here for the portion of their salary earned in Norway, whether or not they live in the country. As an employer, you’ll need to comply with Norwegian tax rules, which include reporting and paying taxes, as well as employer contributions. You’ll also need to issue Norwegian payslips that accurately reflect the tax deductions, and make sure the necessary reports are submitted to the Norwegian Tax Administration. 

Tax liability for employees only applies to the income earned in Norway. If your employees have taxable income in another EU country, they will need to pay taxes on that income in that country. This helps prevent double taxation, as tax treaties between countries ensure taxes are only paid where the income is earned. 

Wage taxation

Employees who are citizens of European countries are not taxed in their home country for income earned in Norway, as the income is earned in Norway. In such cases, they are subject to tax in Norway, in line with the withholding tax principle, which requires tax to be paid where the income is earned. However, if the employee spends less than 183 days in Norway, they may apply for an exemption from wage tax in Norway, provided they are taxed on their salary in their home country. The same applies to social security contributions. In this case, you can process the payslips as usual in your home country, with no need for Norwegian payslips. However, the salary earned in Norway must still be reported to the Norwegian tax authorities. 

 

Cases

Case 1

A European company had been working for over a year on the same project at a Norwegian factory, installing a production line in Norway. As a result, the company established a permanent establishment in Norway. Consequently, all employees became taxable in Norway and required Norwegian payslips for the portion of their salary earned in Norway. In addition, the company had to report salaries, benefits-in-kind, and taxes. The company had a payroll system in its home country, but it was not capable of producing Norwegian payslips. Therefore, they needed both our expertise and our accounting system. As a Norwegian accountant, we took full responsibility for their payroll administration to fulfill their reporting obligations in Norway.

What did we do for the client? 

  • Since the employees paid social security contributions in their home country, we submitted an A1 notification to NAV, which exempted the company from paying employer’s contributions in Norway. 
  • We ensured the employees received D-numbers and retrieved tax deduction cards for them. 
  • We double-checked that the employees had received PAYE tax cards. 
  • Based on the salaries reported by our client, we calculated the monthly tax and employer’s contributions to be paid. 
  • The company paid salaries to their employees and withheld the required payroll taxes to be remitted to the Norwegian tax authorities. 
  • We reported the A-melding and sent payslips to the employees. 

Case 2

A foreign company in the tourism industry seasonally employed 12 people over a 4-month period. Employees coming from Europe were not taxed on this income in their home countries for various reasons. Therefore, they were taxable on their salaries in Norway. Since the employer—our client—did not pay social contributions for their employees in their home country, the company was also required to pay employer’s contributions in Norway. 

What did we do for the client? 

  • We ensured the employees received D-numbers. 
  • We retrieved tax deduction cards for them. 
  • We double-checked that the employees had received PAYE tax cards. 
  • Based on the salaries reported by our client, we calculated the monthly tax and employer’s contributions to be paid. 
  • The company paid salaries to their employees and withheld the necessary payroll taxes to be remitted to the Norwegian tax authorities. 
  • We reported the A-melding and sent payslips to the employees. 
  • We calculated the employer’s contributions, which the client paid to the Norwegian tax authorities. 
  • We assisted the employees in submitting their tax returns. 

How to ensure your foreign supplier complies with Norwegian regulations?

As a Norwegian client, you have a clear responsibility to ensure that your foreign subcontractors working in Norway comply with applicable Norwegian regulations. It is your duty to ensure that the assignment is reported correctly to Norwegian authorities and that the foreign subcontractor fulfills their obligations, including reporting their employees who work on the assignment in Norway. 

 

To avoid issues and potential sanctions, it’s important that your company establishes solid routines for reporting all relevant information about employees, including those employed by foreign employers. This includes ensuring that salaries and benefits are reported accurately, as well as calculating and paying the necessary taxes and employer’s contributions correctly. 

 

If you’re unsure how to handle the A-meldingen or other tax obligations, we can assist you. We’ll help you avoid errors and ensure your company complies with all requirements for taxes and employer’s contributions in Norway. 

FAQ

No, similar rules apply within the EU under the Posting Directive. We can assist with declarations in France, for example: her. 

No, it’s perfectly acceptable to pay salaries in other currencies, such as euros. We convert the salary to NOK so we can report it in NOK. 

Yes, all employees working in Norway must be reported monthly, even if they are not subject to taxation in Norway. 

Do you want to apply for a tax exemption in Norway?

We are here to assist you! 

What can happen if you don’t report correctly? 

It’s important to remember that missing or incorrect reporting can result in fines or other penalties for both your company and your employees. The Norwegian Tax Administration is strict about ensuring that all employers, whether Norwegian or foreign, follow the reporting rules. Therefore, it’s crucial that your company stays on top of its legal obligations to avoid any issues. 

How long does it take? 

It can take up to 6 weeks for a foreign employer to obtain a Norwegian organization number. The timeframe for employees to receive a Norwegian D-number is slightly shorter. 

What can we help with? 

  • Applications for exemptions from payroll tax in Norway 
  • Issuing Norwegian payslips for employees 
  • Reporting A-melding 
  • Calculating employer’s national insurance contributions 
  • Applications for D-numbers 
  • Applications for tax deduction cards for employees 
  • Applications for HMS cards 

We are a multilingual, authorized accounting firm specializing in assisting foreign employers in navigating Norwegian regulations. Whether it’s A-meldingen, tax deductions, or employer’s contributions, we have the expertise to ensure your company complies with all requirements and avoids errors. 

 

Contact us, and we’ll help you meet all mandatory reporting obligations efficiently and correctly.