How to Report Rental Income from a Polish Apartment in Norway?
Do you live and work in Norway but own an apartment in Poland that you rent out? Foreign rental income, Polish tax, property maintenance costs and its value must all be properly included in your Norwegian tax return.
In this article, we explain when income from Poland must be included in the Norwegian skattemelding (tax return), how to calculate the taxable amount under Norwegian rules and how to deduct tax paid in Poland. We discuss the rules applicable when reporting income for 2025 and the current rates for 2026.
When income from Poland must be reported in Norway
If you are a tax resident of Norway, you are generally liable to tax on your worldwide income and wealth. This includes, among other things:
- rent from an apartment located in Poland,
- foreign bank accounts and interest,
- a Polish loan and interest paid,
- the value of property owned in Poland.
You obtain Norwegian tax residency, among other things, after staying in Norway for more than:
- 183 days during any 12-month period, or
- 270 days during any 36-month period.
Days on which your stay begins also count. Being registered in the Norwegian National Registry does not by itself determine your tax residency.
When both countries consider you a resident
If you are a resident of both Poland and Norway under domestic regulations, the tax treaty between Poland and Norway applies. Residency is determined in the following order based on:
- permanent home,
- centre of personal and economic interests,
- habitual place of residence,
- citizenship.
If you live permanently, work and have your family life in Norway, you are usually a Norwegian resident under the treaty as well. You must then report both the Polish rental income and the value of the apartment in Norway.
If you remain a Polish resident under the treaty, income from the Polish apartment is generally not subject to Norwegian taxation. However, you must state in your skattemelding that you claim residency in another country and mark the relevant income as not taxable in Norway.
In more difficult situations, for example when your family lives in Poland while you work in Norway for most of the year, we will be happy to help you determine the correct country for filing your tax return: Poland-Norway tax residency.
How Poland and Norway tax the same rental income
The apartment is located in Poland, so Poland has the right to tax the income from renting it out. If you are a Norwegian resident, you also report the same rental income in Norway.
This does not automatically mean paying the full tax twice. Norway applies kreditfradrag (a deduction for tax paid abroad). It first calculates the Norwegian tax and then deducts qualifying income tax paid in Poland.
| Tax return item | Poland | Norway |
|---|---|---|
| Basis for private rental income | Revenue without deducting ordinary expenses | Revenue less expenses allowed under Norwegian law |
| Main taxation method | PIT-28 and flat-rate tax | Ordinary capital income |
| Rate | 8.5% of revenue up to the statutory threshold of PLN 100,000 and 12.5% on the excess | 22% of income for 2025 and 2026 |
| Relief from double taxation | No deduction of Norwegian tax from Polish flat-rate tax | Deduction of Polish income tax up to the Norwegian limit |
The Polish result reported on PIT-28 is not transferred directly to Norway. In Poland, you pay a flat-rate tax on revenue, while in Norway you recalculate the result as revenue minus allowable expenses.
Calculation example
Let us assume that, after conversion to Norwegian currency:
- gross rental revenue was NOK 120,000,
- expenses allowed in Norway were NOK 30,000,
- the Polish flat-rate tax paid on this income corresponds to NOK 10,200.
Norwegian income is NOK 90,000, and tax at the 22% rate is NOK 19,800. You can deduct NOK 10,200 of income tax paid in Poland from this amount. This leaves NOK 9,600 in Norwegian tax attributable to the rental income.
This is a simplified example. The final amounts depend, among other things, on exchange rates, the correct allocation of expenses and the final tax amount determined in Poland.
The deduction cannot exceed the Norwegian tax attributable to the Polish income. If the Polish tax was higher, the excess alone does not result in a refund from Norway. Under certain conditions, the unused part of the deduction may be carried forward for up to 5 years.
How to calculate income under Norwegian rules
Ordinary long-term rental of an apartment held as an investment is reported based on the actual result. You deduct expenses related to earning this income from the rent received.
Typical expenses include:
- Polish property tax and municipal charges,
- insurance for the apartment and its furnishings,
- administrative fees related to ongoing maintenance,
- electricity, heating and cleaning, if paid by the owner,
- estate agent commission and costs of finding a tenant,
- reasonable travel related to inspecting or renovating the property,
- ongoing repairs and maintenance,
- wear and tear or depreciation of furnishings.
If expenses exceed income, you may have a tax loss that can be deducted in Norway.
Renovation, improvements and furnishings
| Type of expense | Treatment in Norway |
|---|---|
| Repair that restores the previous standard | Generally a current rental expense |
| Higher standard, reconstruction or a new function | Not directly deductible from rental income, but may increase the tax basis upon a later sale |
| Furnishings worth less than NOK 30,000 or used for less than 3 years | Generally deductible in full immediately |
| Furnishings worth at least NOK 30,000 | Generally depreciated at a rate of 20% per year |
If you used the property privately before starting to rent it out, the deduction of major renovation expenses in the first years may be limited. It is particularly important whether the property was rented out for at least six months during the first year.
Interest on a Polish loan
You report the Polish loan, outstanding debt and interest paid separately in the section of the skattemelding concerning foreign debt. Do not enter the interest again as an operating expense of the rental activity, as this would result in a double deduction.
Your own holiday home and intensive rental activity
The reporting method may be different if you genuinely use the property to a reasonable extent as your own holiday home and renting it out is secondary. From 2025, the first NOK 15,000 in gross annual income per property is then tax-exempt, while 85% of the excess is taxable. Under this system, you do not deduct actual expenses separately.
Simply visiting the property occasionally is not enough. An apartment maintained mainly as an investment and continuously occupied by tenants is reported based on actual income and expenses.
Intensive short-term rentals may be considered business activity even with just one apartment. Frequent guest changes, cleaning, handing over keys and additional services are relevant factors. In the case of business activity, the total taxation of income may reach approximately 50.6%.
How to enter the apartment and rental income in your skattemelding
Information about a foreign apartment may not appear automatically. You are responsible for checking and completing your tax return.
Kreditfradrag is not granted automatically. The Polish tax must be finally assessed and actually paid. Polish property tax does not qualify for kreditfradrag, but it may be an expense when calculating rental income.
Converting PLN to NOK
In the electronic skattemelding, you can enter amounts in a foreign currency and the system will convert them once you specify the country and currency. If you perform the calculations yourself, you can use:
- the exchange rate on the date income was received or an expense was incurred,
- the average annual exchange rate for the relevant year.
Use the selected method consistently. The value of the apartment and debt at the end of 2025 is converted using the exchange rate as of 1 January 2026 or the last available exchange rate from 2025.
The value of the apartment as wealth
Entering rental income alone is not enough. If you owned the apartment at the end of the year, you must also report its value. For a new foreign property, the tax value is no more than 30% of the purchase price including land or 30% of the documented market value.
| Year | Tax-free allowance for one person | Tax-free allowance for spouses | Standard wealth tax rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | NOK 1,760,000 | NOK 3,520,000 | Generally 1.0% |
| 2026 | NOK 1,900,000 | NOK 3,800,000 | 1.0% |
Wealth tax applies to net wealth, meaning assets less debt and calculated under tax rules. Therefore, owning an apartment in Poland does not automatically mean that wealth tax will arise. We describe the detailed rules in our article on wealth tax in Norway.
Deadlines and documents
The deadline for submitting the skattemelding for 2025 for employees or pensioners was 30 April 2026. If you omitted the apartment, rental income or the deduction of Polish tax, you can currently correct tax returns for 2023-2025 electronically yourself. We describe the procedure in more detail in our article on correcting a tax return after the deadline.
Keep, among other things:
- the rental agreement and proof of ownership,
- a summary of rent payments and payment dates,
- PIT-28, UPO and proof of tax payments,
- invoices and proof of expenses,
- a breakdown of expenses into repairs and improvements,
- an annual summary of the loan and interest,
- documentation of the apartment's value,
- a summary of the PLN/NOK exchange rates used.
You do not need to attach documents unless requested, but Skatteetaten may require you to provide them along with a translation into Norwegian or English.
If you rent out an apartment in Poland and want to complete all items safely, we will be happy to prepare the tax return for you: private annual tax return - property rental.
FAQ - frequently asked questions
Summary
- A Norwegian resident must report in Norway income from Polish rentals and the value of the apartment.
- Ordinary rental income is taxed in Norway at 22% of income, meaning revenue less allowable expenses.
- You deduct Polish income tax as kreditfradrag, but only up to the amount of Norwegian tax attributable to that income.
- Polish PIT-28, expenses, the loan, the apartment's value and exchange rates must be documented and correctly included in the skattemelding.
If you need help reporting income from renting out an apartment in Poland, call us: +47 21 38 38 21. We help Polish people in Norway organise the reporting of foreign income.
Article author: Marcin - marcin@efirma.no
