Your first paycheck may look completely different than you expect
You got a job.
You signed the contract.
You worked the first month.
You know your gross pay and you roughly calculate what should appear in your account.
And then the paycheck arrives and it turns out half of it was taken.
First thought:
“But I don’t pay 50% tax.”
Most often that’s not the case.
If your employer does not have your skattekort, Norwegian rules require them to withhold 50% of your wages as a tax advance.
That’s why getting a skattekort is not a formality you should leave until after the first paycheck.
It’s best to take care of it before the first payroll run, that is before the employer prepares the payment.
What exactly does a skattekort do?
A skattekort is an electronic piece of information from the Norwegian tax authority for the employer.
It tells them how they should withhold tax from your wages.
The employer retrieves this data directly from the Skatteetaten system. So you should not receive a paper card and have to bring it to payroll.
It is the employer’s obligation to obtain the current skattekort electronically before payment.
Official application for a foreign employee:
Skatteetaten: application for a tax deduction card for a foreign employee
No skattekort? 50% is not a punishment
This is important because the number looks brutal.
Not having a skattekort does not mean the authority decided your normal tax rate is 50%.
It is a rule applied when the employer does not have the information needed to correctly calculate the withholding.
Skatteetaten then requires withholding 50% of wages until the skattekort is obtained.
Therefore, if you are just starting a job, the question:
“Is my skattekort ready yet?”
is much more important than:
“What percentage of tax will I pay?”
First you need to have the card.
Only then do we analyze which tax system is appropriate for you.
Step 1. Check if you already have a Norwegian identification number
If you have:
D-nummer
or
fødselsnummer
the procedure is simpler.
If you also have electronic identification, you can apply online.
Don’t have a Norwegian number yet?
In that case, for the first skattekort Skatteetaten usually also needs to verify your identity and can assign a D-nummer within the same case.
So you do not have to first “get a D-nummer” and only then start a completely new skattekort procedure.
We have already explained exactly this mechanism in the guide D-nummer or fødselsnummer.
Step 2. No number? Book an ID check
If you do not have a D-nummer or fødselsnummer, Skatteetaten indicates that you should:
fill in form RF-1209,
book an identity check,
bring the form to the appointment.
Here you will find places that perform identity checks:
Skatteetaten: offices performing ID checks
Not every Skatteetaten office performs such checks, so check the location before you travel.
If you previously also planned to register as an EU/EEA citizen or to report a move, remember our previous guide about SUA. In some situations, several of these procedures can be combined during one visit.
Step 3. Prepare an employment contract
Skatteetaten must know that you are actually starting work in Norway.
For the foreign worker's application, the basic documents include, among others:
a valid identity document,
an employment contract or a written job offer,
a completed form, if required.
If you were posted to Norway by a company from another EU/EEA country, documents concerning the assignment carried out in Norway may also be required.
You can check the current list for an EU/EEA citizen here:
SUA: skattekort and documents for EU/EEA citizens
Step 4. You can ask your employer to submit the application for you
Not everyone knows this.
Skatteetaten allows an employer to submit an application for a skattekort on behalf of a foreign employee.
This can be particularly convenient if the company regularly employs foreign workers and knows the procedure.
But the employer does not make all tax decisions for you.
For example, the employer cannot waive the PAYE system on your behalf. You can make that decision yourself.
This is important.
An employer's help with the form does not mean you are handing over the decision about how you are taxed.
Step 5. Do not wait for a paper card
The skattekort is electronic.
After the application is processed you will receive information about the issued card, and the employer will retrieve the data directly from the Skatteetaten system.
You do not need to send the accountant a screenshot of your tax percentage.
You also should not tell the employer yourself:
"withhold 25% from me".
The employer must use the skattekort retrieved from the system.
How long does it take?
Skatteetaten states that the skattekort, after a correctly submitted application, is usually ready within about 5 working days.
At the same time, the office warns that matters concerning foreign employees often require more time, among other things due to the need to carry out ID checks.
Therefore do not treat five days as a guarantee.
If you know you start work on October 1, do not postpone the formalities until the day before your first payday.
"I've already been working for a week. Can I work at all without a skattekort?"
Here you need to separate two things.
Skattekort concerns tax.
The right to work arises from your residence status and immigration regulations.
For example, an EU/EEA citizen who has the right to work in Norway may start working before all tax procedures are completed. SUA also indicates that you can apply for a skattekort regardless of waiting for the completion of EU/EEA registration.
However, this does not mean that the rule will be identical for every person from outside the EU/EEA.
Therefore do not use the tax deduction card as an answer to the question:
„Do I have the right to work in Norway?”
That's a separate matter.
What will the employer see?
Not all the information you gave to Skatteetaten.
The employer only receives the information needed to correctly withhold tax, including the table or percentage of withholding.
The employer will not see, through the tax deduction card:
Your projected annual salary,
Your private debts,
information about your entire financial situation.
This is especially important for people who are worried that changing the tax deduction card will reveal private financial information to their employer.
How to check whether your employer has retrieved your tax deduction card?
You can check this yourself.
Skatteetaten provides a service showing which employers have retrieved your tax deduction card.
Check here:
Skatteetaten: see who has retrieved your tax deduction card
This is particularly useful if:
you changed jobs,
you have two employers,
you previously worked for another company,
the tax withholding on the pay slip is incorrect.
Do you have two employers? It's easy to make a mistake here
With one employer the situation is usually simple.
With two you have to be more careful.
If you use a tax deduction card based on a table, the main employer, that is the one paying the largest salary, should use table-based withholding. The others should apply percentage withholding.
If two employers use the same table simultaneously, too little tax may be withheld.
This is one of the reasons why it's worth checking not only the tax deduction card itself, but also every pay slip afterwards.
We'll return to this in a separate guide on reading a Norwegian payslip.
The tax deduction card is not set permanently
The information on the card should correspond to your real situation.
If, for example, the following changes:
your salary,
the number of employers,
income,
some deductions,
it's worth checking the tax deduction card again.
Skatteetaten explicitly notes that the card does not update automatically just because your salary or financial situation has changed. Incorrect information can lead to paying too little or too much tax.
You can check or change the card here:
Skatteetaten: check or change the tax deduction card
One more thing: the tax deduction card is valid for a specific year
The card is valid for the given tax year.
If you arrive, for example, in November and work until March of the following year, the tax deduction card covering November and December applies to the first year. For the new year you need a card that applies in the new tax period.
Therefore an employee with a D-nummer doing short contracts should be particularly careful when transitioning between years.
Don't assume:
„Since I received a tax card last year, everything continues to work.”
Check.
What about PAYE 25%?
We deliberately pause here.
Most new eligible foreign workers are initially covered by the simplified PAYE system.
In 2026 the standard rate is 25%, and the income limit for participation in the system is 725 050 NOK.
But that does not mean:
„25% is always the best.”
Under the PAYE system you do not benefit from the normal tax deductions, whereas under the general rules the tax depends on income and possible deductions.
This is an important enough topic not to squeeze it into two paragraphs of this guide.
Next piece: Withholding tax/PAYE 25% in Norway. When is it simpler, and when might you lose out?
There we will calculate and show the differences using specific scenarios.
First payment: make four checks
Before pay day arrives, check:
Has the application for a tax card been submitted?
Has the required ID check been completed?
Has the card already been issued?
Has the employer retrieved it from the system?
If all four answers are „yes”, you have a much lower risk of an unpleasant surprise on your first payslip.
Most common mistake? „HR will definitely take care of it”
Sometimes they will.
Especially in companies that regularly employ foreigners.
But ultimately you should know which tax card you have and whether it matches your situation.
The employer is responsible for correctly withholding tax according to the received card.
However, they are not responsible if you gave Skatteetaten an incorrect income estimate or did not react when your situation changed.
Therefore after the first payment do not look only at the amount that appeared in your account.
Open the payslip.
Check the gross amount.
Check the tax deducted.
Check the number of hours.
Check the allowances.
This will be the next stage of our system.
What next?
You already have a job and a tax card.
Now comes a decision that many new employees do not even notice:
PAYE or the ordinary tax rules?
25% looks simple.
But simpler does not always mean more advantageous.
In the next guide we will check:
who can use PAYE,
what the limit is in 2026,
which deductions you lose,
when it is worth considering the general rules,
and why the decision to exit PAYE in a given year should not be made without checking the numbers.
OFFICIAL SOURCES
Skatteetaten: application for a tax card for a foreign worker
Form RF-1209, rules for submitting the application, ID check and the possibility for the employer to submit the application.
Skatteetaten: foreign worker
Basic rules concerning the tax card and the Norwegian identification number.
Skatteetaten: employer obligations
Rules for applying the tax card and the mandatory deduction of 50% of the salary in the absence of a card.
Skatteetaten: PAYE
Current rules for the simplified taxation of foreign workers, the rate and the income limit for 2026.
SUA: EU/EEA citizen
Documents required for the first tax card and the possibility of combining certain procedures during a visit to SUA.
Status of information checked: 22.09.2026
