Tax record and demands for payment

sfb2no

Hi. I got a tax demand from Norway today, demanding payment of tax from the years 2001 to 2006, or they will make an attachment to earnings.
I only worked and lived in Norway from Nov 2001 to April 2003 and tax was taken of my wages by my employer. Pre Nov 2001 I was living and working in the UK paying tax PAYE and making visits to Norway every 2 or 3 weeks. From May 2003 I live back in the UK unemployed until Sep and then started paying UK tax PAYE.
My Questions are How can I prove that I paid UK tax for these years as it is over 6 years ago and tax records are only kept for 5 years 10 months, and can the Norwegian tax office chase me for tax from over 6 years ago, and do anything to get money from me in the UK? As I am not sure how I can prove to them that I don't owe them any Tax.

Many Thanks,

Stephen

Savvy_Sue

While you were working in Norway, were you employed by a UK company or a Norwegian one?

If a UK company, are they still in business?

sfb2no

I worked for a UK Company until April 2001 paying PAYE tax the company is no longer in business. From April 2001 I was traveling around Europe and visiting Norway a lot. In Jan 2002 got a residence permit for Norway and began living there permanently in Feb 2002, I worked for 3 different Norwegian employers paying there version of PAYE tax. I stopped working and living in Norway April 2003 returning to England and was unemployed until Sep 2003. I have never been back to Norway since.
The tax demand was sent to my UK address for the years 2001, 2003, 2004 , 2005 and 2006. Which I find strange that the only year I was living and working there is not included but they want tax for the years I was not working or living there.

jamesd

First thing to do is tell them when and where you were working and living and ask them why they think you owe tax there and for which periods of employment. HMRC will have records of taxable income and tax paid that you can probably get if you need them to prove you paid tax in the UK.

The Norwegian authorities will probably be looking to determine whether you were resident for some or all of the time, or classed as resident even if you'd left for some time. You probably weren't classable as resident so you'll need travel records more than tax records initially, to prove non-residence and lack of liability to Norwegian tax.

They probably have records of tax paid when you were working in Norway and that probably satisfied them, so it's natural enough that they would wonder about only the rest.

Do be sure to communicate with them, ignoring will just cause them to assume you're trying to evade paying tax.

jennifernil

Did you tell them that you had left? You should fill in a leaving form for the person register.

Savvy_Sue

It would probably be worth looking at the Norwegian Embassy website, I'd be gobsmacked if there was no information there about living, working and paying tax in Norway and how their tax system works. There are also some forums and blogs relating to UK expats living in Norway, I have no idea which of them would be useful but a google search will help you find them.

jennifernil

The Norwegian Tax bods have an extensive website, with info in English too, so very easy to find info.

OH is Norwegian, but has not lived in Norway since 1970, so had noooooo idea about the tax system these days!!

He did some work in Norway for a year after he retired, plus now has a small pension from there, so we had a steep learning curve, but we did find them very helpful when we rang with a query.

trailingspouse

We occasionally get a missive from the Irish Revenue, saying we owe tax. I simply phone them and tell them we left in 2010, so don't owe anything for 2011 and beyond. They accept it without question (well, until the next letter!)