# Norway Tax Residence — 36 Months

Tax residency rule, Norway. Page: https://usecountr.com/trackers/tax-no-36mo/

## Summary

Norway has a second day test for tax residence, made for people who come often but never for long. You become a tax resident when you stay in Norway for more than 270 days in any 36-month period, even if you never passed 183 days in any 12 months. Any part of a day counts as a full day. Residence then starts on 1 January of the year in which you pass 270 days, and Norway taxes your income and wealth from the whole world. The Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten) applies the rule.

- Limit: More than 270 days in Norway
- Period: Any 36 months in a row
- A day counts when: You are in Norway for any part of it
- Resident from: 1 January of the year in which you pass 270 days
- Law: Taxation Act (Skatteloven), section 2-1, second paragraph, letter b
- Run by: The Norwegian Tax Administration (Skatteetaten)

## Who it applies to

- Commuters who work in Norway on a rotation and live with their family in another country.
- Consultants and project workers who return to Norway for some months every year.
- People who spend every summer or every winter at a cabin in Norway.
- People who keep their days under 183 a year on purpose and think that is enough.

## The rule

Section 2-1 of the Norwegian Taxation Act (Skatteloven) has two day tests for people who come to Norway. Letter a of the second paragraph is the well-known one: more than 183 days in any 12-month period. Letter b is the long test: you are resident when you stay in Norway, in one or several periods, for more than 270 days during any 36-month period. Either test is enough.

The 36 months are any 36 months in a row. They do not have to be three calendar years. The days can come from many short visits, and the reason for each visit does not matter. Skatteetaten counts every day you are in Norway, including parts of days, so arrival and departure days count in full.

The law says you are resident only from the income year in which the stay passes the number of days. For the 270-day test Skatteetaten explains that you become resident from 1 January of the year in which your stay goes over 270 days. For the earlier years you had limited tax liability, which means tax on income from Norway only.

The limit is more than 270 days. Skatteetaten states the result in plain words: you can stay in Norway for 90 days per year on average without becoming a tax resident. Three years with 90 days each give 270, which is not more than 270.

Letter b does not apply to people who are resident on Svalbard. And as with any residence test, a tax treaty can decide that you are resident in the other country for the purposes of the treaty when both countries claim you.

Why it exists: A test of 183 days in 12 months can be avoided by a person who comes to Norway for five months every year, year after year. Such a person has a lasting connection with Norway and uses the country much like a resident. The 36-month test closes this gap. It lets real visitors come for three months a year, and it brings people with a steady pattern of long stays inside Norwegian tax.

## Counting the days

You count the days on which you were in Norway for any part of the day, and you check the total for every period of 36 months in a row.

1. List every stay in Norway in the last three years with the arrival day and the departure day. Count both of them.
2. Pick today, or any day you want to test, and look back 36 months.
3. Add up all days in Norway inside that window.
4. If the total is more than 270, so 271 or more, you are a tax resident.
5. Find the calendar year in which you passed 270 days. You are resident from 1 January of that year.
6. Run the 12-month test as well: more than 183 days in any 12 months makes you resident sooner.

How Countr counts it: Countr counts every day with any presence in Norway as a full day, in the same way as Skatteetaten. For Norway Tax Residence — 36 Months it adds up the days in the 36 months that end today and compares the total with 270. The card looks at the last 36 months only. If you went over the limit in an earlier period, that stays on the tracker's record when you open it. The count depends on what the app can see: if it has no data for part of the last three years, the real number can be higher than the number shown. The app does not check whether you are resident on Svalbard, and it does not apply a tax treaty.

## Examples

### Three years of growing stays

You are in Norway for 85 days in 2024 and 95 days in 2025, which makes 180. In 2026 you come again. Your 91st day in Norway in 2026 is day 271 inside 36 months, so on that day you pass the limit. You are a tax resident from 1 January 2026. For 2024 and 2025 you had limited tax liability only.

### Ninety days every year

You spend 90 days in Norway every year, always in summer. Any 36 months hold 270 days at the most. The law asks for more than 270, so you do not become resident under this test. If one summer runs one day longer and a 36-month period holds 271 days, the result changes.

### The window is not three calendar years

You were in Norway for 30 days in the first half of 2023 and for 100 days between July and December 2023. In 2024 and 2025 you were there for 80 days each year, and from January to June 2026 for 15 days. The window of the calendar years 2023 to 2025 holds 290 days. The window from July 2023 to June 2026 holds 275 days. Both are over 270. You check every window of 36 months, and one window over the limit is enough.

## Exceptions

- The 36-month test does not apply to people who are resident on Svalbard (section 2-1, second paragraph).
- A tax treaty can make the other country your country of residence for treaty purposes. Skatteetaten asks for a certificate of residence from that country's tax authority.
- You are resident only from the income year in which you pass 270 days. The earlier years inside the window stay years of limited tax liability.
- People who are not resident can still owe Norwegian tax on income from Norway, such as pay for work done there.
- Once you are resident, a lower number of days does not end the residence on its own. To end it you must settle abroad for good, stay no more than 61 days in Norway in the income year and have no home available there.

## Common misconceptions

- "If I stay under 183 days every year, Norway cannot treat me as resident." That is only the first test. More than 270 days in any 36 months also makes you resident. Five months a year passes this limit in the second year.
- "The 270 days are counted over three calendar years." The law says any 36-month period. The window can start on any date, and every window is checked.
- "The limit is 90 days in each year." There is no yearly limit in this test. Only the total in 36 months counts. You can stay 150 days in one year and 60 in each of the two others and still be at 270.
- "I become resident from the day I pass 270 days." Residence starts on 1 January of the year in which you pass the limit. Income and wealth from the first months of that year are already inside Norwegian tax.

## Questions and answers

### Do short trips for meetings count towards the 270 days?

Yes. Skatteetaten counts every day in Norway, including parts of days, whatever the reason. A day trip to Oslo for one meeting is one day.

### How many days can I spend in Norway each year without becoming resident?

Skatteetaten says you can stay 90 days per year on average. Exactly 270 days in 36 months is still allowed. You also need to stay at 183 days or fewer in any 12 months.

### What happens in the years before I passed 270 days?

Nothing changes for them. You are resident only from the income year in which you pass the limit. For the earlier years you keep limited tax liability, on Norwegian income.

### I passed 270 days. How do I stop being a tax resident?

Lower days alone do not do it. You must settle abroad for good, stay in Norway for no more than 61 days in the income year, and neither you nor your close family may have a home available in Norway. People who lived in Norway for 10 years or more must meet this for three years.

### Does a tax treaty protect me from the 270-day rule?

It can change the result. If your home country also treats you as resident and the treaty places your residence there, Norway may tax only what the treaty allows. You must give Skatteetaten a certificate of residence from the other country.

### Which of the two Norwegian tests applies to me?

Both apply at the same time, and passing one is enough. The 12-month test usually catches people who move to Norway. The 36-month test catches people with regular stays that are each too short for the first test.

## Sources

- [Skatteetaten, Tax when you move to Norway](https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/get-the-taxes-right/abroad/tax-when-you-move-to-norway/)
- [Taxation Act (Skatteloven), section 2-1, on Lovdata](https://lovdata.no/dokument/NL/lov/1999-03-26-14/KAPITTEL_2-1)
- [Skatteetaten, Tax emigration, cessation of tax liability](https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/get-the-taxes-right/abroad/tax-emigration/)
- [Skatteetaten, Residence pursuant to a tax treaty](https://www.skatteetaten.no/en/person/taxes/get-the-taxes-right/abroad/residence-pursuant-to-a-tax-treaty/)

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Countr is an app for iPhone that counts your days in every country for visa, tax and residency rules, from the photos on your phone and your location. It explains rules and counts days. It does not give legal or tax advice. https://apps.apple.com/app/country-days-tracker-countr/id6810720800