Creating and running a Norway payroll
The wealthy and highly developed Scandinavian nation of Norway is a great place for business expansion, with an excellent quality of life and a well-educated population.
To expand in Norway, one of the first steps for many businesses will be to hiring staff locally, which generally means registering an entity and establishing a payroll. This can be done, but the language barriers, cultural differences, and complex employment legislation can all slow progress, taking weeks or even months to work through.
At Horizons, we offer Norway payroll outsourcing services for organizations expanding overseas. We will set up and run your Norway payroll, providing you with all the support you need to expand more efficiently, whether or not you have an established entity in Norway.
Why choose the Horizons payroll solution?
If you have an entity
If your organization has already established an entity in Norway, we provide payroll setup and management services to help you stay compliant and kickstart your expansion into the country.
This solution is ideally suited for larger businesses aiming to expand in the region on a long-term basis.
If you don’t have an entity
For organizations that do not yet have an entity and want to stay flexible, we can provide the use of our Norway subsidiary to act as employer of record for your new employees. Additionally, we will handle the setup, management, and compliance work associated with your Norway payroll outsourcing, taking care of everything for you.
This is a low-risk and flexible way to start your expansion into Norway market, helping you focus on a successful Norwegian expansion.
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Norway payroll guide
What are the withholdings and tax requirements in Norway?
Income tax is charged at a rate of 22% for employees, and there is also a progressive ‘tax bracket rate’ ranging from 0% to 16.2%, depending on earnings.
Employees need to make national insurance contributions also, which is 8.2% of gross wage/salary income, and there are reduced rates for other incomes like pension payments. Employers must also pay into this, with rates varying dependent on income (usually between 16% and 29% of employee salary).
Employers also need to pay towards employee pension funds. The exact terms of this can vary based on your circumstances and employee preferences.
For companies, the tax rates are different for resident or non-resident organizations. The former is taxed on their worldwide incomes, and the latter is charged only on Norway-based income. The rate of corporate tax is 22% of profits.
Entitlements and terminations in Norway
In Norway, employees are usually given between three and six months of notice prior to termination. The precise length of notice varied based on several factors, such as age, length of employment, and more.
Anybody who is still in a probation period may be given a shorter notice period, which would generally be more like two weeks, and probation periods are usually three to six months long.
Norway has very strong employee protections in place compared to much of the world, so it is very important to always follow proper procedures. This may include things like holding an official meeting about terminations where employees are entitled to bring a representative and ensuring that you have proper cause for termination.
How to establish Norway payroll outsourcing
When establishing a payroll and hiring in Norway yourself, you will generally want to look at setting up a Norway-based entity to act as employer of record. This can be a long and drawn-out process, causing possible delays of weeks or even months to your expansion.
Horizons offers an alternative to this by taking care of your entire payroll setup and management process, keeping you compliant and speeding up your entry into the Norwegian marketplace. We can also offer the use of our Norwegian subsidiary to work as employer of record for your staff, so you can benefit from our services even if you don’t have an established entity in Norway.
Manage payroll in Norway
Whether it’s EOR service or just payroll management, Horizons’ employment experts can help you get started in 24h.
