Do you earn the same salary as a colleague, yet your paycheck shows a completely different withholding tax? While it may seem unfair, differences in tax cards (skattekort) don't mean that one of you will pay more and the other less. These are just withholding taxes – estimates based on many individual factors, which the Norwegian Tax Office (Skatteetaten) takes into account when creating them.
In this article, we explain NOKok by NOKok where these differences come from, what exactly affects the deduction amount, and when you can expect your tax to be settled. If you want to understand why your skattekort differs from your colleague's, you've come to the right place.
What is a tax card?
Let's start with the basics: the tax card, i.e. skattekort, is an electronic document that shows how much withholding tax your employer should deduct from each paycheck. This document is prepared The tax authorities (Norwegian Tax Agency) and makes it available to your employer automatically. You don't have to provide it yourself.
Skattekort is not a final tax settlementThis is merely a forecast based on data from the previous year and estimates of your income, benefits, and potential assets. Based on this, the office determines how much advance payment (forskuddstrekk) should be deducted from your salary during the year.
If you do not order or update your card, your employer is obliged to deduct up to 50% advance payment until the correct document appears. Therefore, it is important to check your tax card at the beginning of each year and ensure that the information contained therein is accurate.
From 2025, Skatteetaten has introduced updated tax tablesTherefore, it may happen that you notice a change to the table number or rate – however, this does not indicate an error. If the information on the card is correct (income, tax breaks, personal circumstances), the advance payments will also be calculated accordingly.
The most important thing is that the tax card only applies to advance paymentsThe actual settlement takes place only after the end of the year - then you get skatmelding i skatteoppgjør, in which the office calculates whether you have paid enough or whether something needs to be returned or paid extra.
Advance payment and final tax
What your employer deducts from your salary each month is just advance tax payment – in Norwegian forskuddstrekkThis isn't your final income tax bill yet. Advance payments are collected based on the estimates shown on your tax card. The goal is to spread your tax bill evenly throughout the year.
Final tax settlement only takes place after the end of the tax year – usually in spring. Then Skatteetaten sends you skatmelding (tax return) and later skatteoppgjør, i.e. the decision how much you should actually pay.
There are three possible scenarios:
– if you paid too much, you will get refund of overpayment,
– if you paid too little, you will have to pay the difference,
– if the advances were accurate, nothing changes.
This means that even if your friend has a different tax card than you, but you earn exactly the same and have identical tax situation, in the end you will pay the same amount of taxDifferences in tax deductions only affect how the payment is spread throughout the year—not the actual tax amount. One of you might receive a surcharge and the other a refund, but you'll end up with the same amount—one will have a larger monthly payment, the other a smaller one.
However, it's worth keeping your card as accurate as possible to avoid large surcharges or long waits for a refund. If your income or situation changes throughout the year, you can update your tax card at any time and we we can help you with this (click).
What influences the amount of the tax advance?
Just because you earn the same as your colleague doesn't mean your tax deductions will be identical. Skatteetaten calculates deductions individually, based on a wealth of information it has about you. The tax deduction card takes into account not only your salary but also other elements of your financial situation.
Your tax card is mainly affected by:
Projected annual income
The office bases its assessment on your earnings from the previous year or, if this is your first year in Norway, based on your declaration. For example, the 2025 card takes into account income from November 2023 to October 2024, plus any expected salary increases (e.g., 4,5%).
Other sources of income
If you have additional income besides your job (e.g. second job, NAV, seasonal bonuses), Skatteetaten takes it into account. In such cases, you often receive prosentkort, That is, a percentage card. The employer then deducts a set percentage from each paycheck. Your colleague may only have one source of income, so his card will be a table card (tabellkort).
Reliefs and deductions (fradrag)
Everyone can have different tax breaks, e.g. interest on NOK mortgage, commuting costs, childcare or status PendlerIf your friend reported more deductions, his tax base will be lower, and therefore his advance payments will also be lower. The lack of relief means a higher advance payment. Such reliefs can also reduce his final tax, and in such a situation, the final tax will also differ, not just the advance payments.
Assets and debts
If you have large savings, a house or other property, it may be added formuesskatt (wealth tax). In turn, high NOKs and interest on them reduce the tax base. Therefore, two people with the same salary but different assets and debts may have different tax deductions.
Outdated data
Your tax card doesn't change on its own. If your situation has changed but you haven't reported it to the tax office, your card may be out of date. Your friend may have updated it—for example, after a job change, moving, or taking out NOKedyt—hence the difference in the withholding amounts. Or it could be the other way around, meaning you updated the information but your friend hasn't.
Tabellkort or prosentkort? Types of tax cards
In Norway, the tax card comes in two forms: tabellkort (tabular card) and prosentkort (interest card). They differ in the method of calculating the advance tax payment.
- Tabellkort is most often used when you have a single, stable source of income. The advance payment is then calculated from a table that automatically adjusts to your monthly salary.
- Prosentkort, on the other hand, is used in cases where there are multiple employers or less predictable income. In these cases, a fixed percentage is deducted, regardless of the payout amount.
The type of card does not affect how much tax you will pay at the end of the year - what counts is the sum of income and deductions in skatteoppgjørIf you'd like to better understand the differences between tabellkort and prosentkort and find out when which option is more advantageous, read our full guide here: https://efremtid.no/rozliczenia-osobiste/skattekort/.
Summary
Just because you and your friend earn the same doesn't mean your tax advances will be identical. Skattekort is an individual forecast based on many factors: previous income, tax relief, debt, assets, number of employers and the current status of data in the system.
The most important thing to remember is that the tax card is only used to collect advance paymentsThe final tax settlement is made only after the end of the year. If your information is correct, and your income and tax relief are the same as your colleague's, your final tax amount will also be the same.
It's worth regularly checking your tax return on the Skatteetaten website, especially if your circumstances change. This will help you avoid unpleasant surprises, both in the form of surcharges and long waits for your tax refund.
Need help ordering or changing your tax card?
Contact us: +47 21 38 38 21. We are available Monday to Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 21:00 p.m. and we will be happy to help!
Author of the article: Marcin – marcin@efirma.no
