Pay taxes in Norway, live in UK

Engeroosi

Hi, I currently work out the UK in Norway for a norwegian company. I pay Norwegian tax. I declare this to the UK.

I have heard of people out the UK for over 183 days getting all their tax back. Could this apply to me if I was out the UK for over that amount of time?

Also does anyone have advice on how I could pay less tax?

Randvegeta

Engeroosi wrote: »

Hi, I currently work out the UK in Norway for a norwegian company. I pay Norwegian tax. I declare this to the UK.

I have heard of people out the UK for over 183 days getting all their tax back. Could this apply to me if I was out the UK for over that amount of time?

Also does anyone have advice on how I could pay less tax?

If you live outside of the UK for more than 183 days a year, and your income is from Norway, your income is not taxable in the UK. I'm surprised you have to declare it at all...

If you live in the UK and are paying tax on your Norwegian income, you should be eligible for double taxation relief. Meaning you should not need to pay tax twice.

If for example you earn 100k, in the UK you'de probably see about 50k taken away in taxes. If you already paying the same, or more in Norway, you should not need to pay further taxes here in the UK. If you are paying less (e.g. 40k), you may need to pay the remainder in the UK, IF you are considered a tax resident. If you live less than 6 months in the UK, then you are not really tax resident and should not have to pay!

RetiredInThailand

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/residence.htm

agrinnall

Please do not rely on the simplistic post by Randvegeta, the situation, as explained in the link provided by RetiredInThailand, is considerably more complicated.

As your location is given as Aberdeen and you live in Norway would I be right in assuming you are involved in the oil/gas business? If so I would expect this situation to be common in that industry and information should be available locally, perhaps from your employer if you work for one of the big organisations, or from a specialist accountant. It's not the sort of thing that you should leave entirely to advice from random people on a forum when it could land you with a big tax bill if you get it wrong (or end up paying more than you need to).

Engeroosi

Thanks to all the replies so far, just to confirm, I work 100 days per year in Norway, spend the remainder of my time in the UK, Aberdeen primarily.

I currently have a specialist accountant for this situation.

My question is regarding whether If I was to take vacation for majority of my time off and only spend 80 days in the UK, 100 days in Norway and the rest on various locations around the world what would be my tax predicament?

Randvegeta

Engeroosi,

Firstly, I apologize for my simplistic answer before, but it seems to me residency may not be a big issue.

As I understand, Norway has very high taxes. If you are paying Norwegian income tax, your tax burden in the UK should be little or none.

So is it worth travelling around for 180+ days a year to save on income tax (if any savings would be made at all)?

If you really do find that becoming a NON resident (for tax purposes) makes you a bucket load of savings, then you need to go about making yourself OFFICIALLY non-resident. Which probably means you have to pick another country to be resident in.. perhaps Norway?

YourTaxOffice

I deal with Norwegian tax regularly for expat residents and contract workers in Norway. If your usual residency is in the UK then you are tax resident there. You only become tax resident in Norway if you spend 183 days in Norway or Norwegian waters in a year or 270 days within two years.

It may be that as a UK tax resident, depending on the work you do, onshore or offshore, that you could be eligible for Seafarers Earnings Deduction. This is also dependent on where your work is located. You are unlikely to be eligible for the Norwegian SED as you have to spend 130 days or more aboard a vessel.

Your overall tax liabilities need to be looked at collectively to find the most tax-efficient solution/structure - where you maintain tax residency and what tax reliefs may be available to you. There could be a number of solutions.

Engeroosi

Thanks again for the replies.

The company I work for are Norwegian therefore they pay the taxes and then pay me whats left. I work mainly offshore on oil platforms, rigs, boats etc. Not a fixed work location.

The travelling aspect my not outweigh the savings But I would have the pleasure of spending alot of time on Holiday which I plan to do regardless.

I do have an accountant who is doing my returns, I didnt want to ask him incase he thought I was trying to go for tax evasion which I am not, but any reductions I can legally get I would be more than happy to go for.

agrinnall

I would speak to your accountant, I very much doubt if what you are asking would be regarded as tax evasion, rather you are investigating ways to arrange your affairs in order to minimise the amount of tax paid, a perfectly legal thing to do. Your accountant is in the best position to answer your question as he is already in possession of far more of the relevant information than you could ever give here.

Engeroosi

Thanks, I have emailed my accountant, unfortunately he is on holiday so have to wait for any answers. I doubt I will be one of the fortunate ones in a position to take advantage of the system.
I was never given the option to pay tax in Norway or the UK, my employers just got me a tax number in Norway and paid me accordingly.

Engeroosi

Ok more questions regarding my work situation.

I have been informed by my company that if I fill out an E101 form then I will save 7.8% on tax, surely there has to be a consequence of this? Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks in advance