Norway Wealth Tax 2026 for Americans: Rates, Couples, and Why a US Life Annuity Falls Outside It
Written by Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent · CA 4273294Short answer: Yes, Norway has a wealth tax: in 2026 residents pay 1.0% on worldwide net wealth above NOK 1.9 million per person (about $197,000; a couple who are both resident get double), and 1.1% above NOK 21.5 million. A life annuity bought from an insurer that has never been licensed in Norway “is not considered taxable wealth” (Skatteetaten, Skatte-ABC F-24-2.1, based on skatteloven § 4-2(2)). The price: every payment is taxed as income in Norway, at the gross amount. For an American moving to Norway with savings, a US life-only SPIA bought before the move is the one tool that both shrinks the wealth-tax base and produces income UDI counts.
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When my parents started planning their move from the US to Norway (my mom is Norwegian, my dad is American), the immigration income test got all the attention. The wealth tax was the quiet problem. Money sitting in a bank on December 31 is taxed every year, whether it earns anything or not. Here is how the tax works in 2026, and why a US annuity is treated differently.
Norway wealth tax rates for 2026
Norwegian tax residents pay formuesskatt on net worldwide wealth: bank accounts, shares, funds, property abroad, cars and boats, minus debt. The valuation date is December 31. Move in on December 30 and you owe wealth tax for that whole year.
| Year | Threshold per person | Municipal | State | Top band |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | NOK 1,700,000 | 0.7% | 0.3% | 1.1% total above NOK 20,000,000 |
| 2025 | NOK 1,760,000 | 0.525% | 0.475% | 1.1% total above NOK 20,700,000 |
| 2026 | NOK 1,900,000 | 0.35% | 0.65% | 1.1% total above NOK 21,500,000 |
Spouses who are assessed jointly get double the threshold (Skatteetaten’s 2026 rates). If only one spouse is resident in Norway, ask a Norwegian tax adviser how the threshold applies. At USD/NOK 9.6494 (Norges Bank, October 2, 2026), NOK 1.9 million is about $197,000.
Single or married: the 2026 threshold
| Household | Tax-free threshold | About USD | Example: $1 million in US bank and brokerage cash (NOK 9.65 million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single resident | NOK 1,900,000 | $197,000 | (9.65M minus 1.9M) x 1.0% = about NOK 77,500 a year ($8,000) |
| Married, both resident | NOK 3,800,000 | $394,000 | (9.65M minus 3.8M) x 1.0% = about NOK 58,500 a year ($6,100) |
| Married, only one resident | NOK 1,900,000 for the resident spouse | $197,000 | Depends on how assets are split; ask a Norwegian tax adviser |
The example uses bank deposits at 100% of value; shares and funds are valued at 80%, which lowers the bill. It is illustrative, before debt and other assets.
How assets are valued
| Asset | Wealth-tax value (2026) |
|---|---|
| Bank deposits, cash | 100% |
| Shares and the equity part of funds | 80% (20% discount) |
| Primary home in Norway | 25% of market value up to NOK 14,000,000, then 70% |
| Secondary home in Norway | 100% of the housing value (2026) |
| A house you keep in the US | The treaty lets the US tax US real property (Art. 21(1)) and has Norway exempt property the US may tax (Art. 23(2)(a)); confirm the treatment with a Norwegian tax adviser |
| Life annuity from an insurer never licensed in Norway | Not taxable wealth |
| Life annuity (livrente) from a Norwegian-licensed insurer | Surrender value; a no-surrender clause is ignored |
Shares at 80% follow Skatteetaten’s published valuation-discount rules; check the current year’s rate. Debt is deducted, but the deduction is reduced in proportion to discounted assets. A worked example from Skatteetaten’s rules: a single person with NOK 10 million in listed shares and no debt is taxed on NOK 8.0 million, so (8.0M minus 1.9M) x 1.0% = about NOK 61,000 a year (about $6,300).
The rule: why a US annuity is outside the wealth base
Three pieces of Norwegian law work together:
- Skatteloven § 4-2(1)(c) excludes a “tidsbegrenset rett til periodisk ytelse” (a time-limited right to periodic payments) from taxable wealth.
- § 4-2(2) pulls individual annuity insurance (livrenteforsikring) back into the base, but only “forutsatt at forsikringen er tegnet i selskap som har eller har hatt tillatelse til å drive forsikringsvirksomhet her i landet”: only if the insurer has, or has had, a license to do insurance business in Norway.
- § 4-16(1) values those Norwegian-licensed annuities at surrender value and says a contract term that blocks surrender is ignored. So a local no-surrender annuity is still taxed.
Skatteetaten’s own handbook says it plainly in Skatte-ABC F-24-2.1 (2025/2026 edition): “Livrenteforsikring tegnet i selskap som ikke har eller har hatt tillatelse til å drive forsikringsvirksomhet i Norge, anses ikke som skattepliktig formue. Dette har sammenheng med at disse er skattepliktige i sin helhet ved utbetaling, jf. sktl. § 5-1 og § 5-41.” In English: an annuity from an insurer that does not have, and has never had, a license to do insurance business in Norway is not taxable wealth, because those annuities are taxable in full when paid out. The conditions are two: it must be an annuity (livrenteforsikring), and the insurer must never have held a Norwegian license. Check the second point with the insurer in writing; a US insurer with a Norwegian branch or license would fall back into the wealth base.
Which annuities are outside. The exception follows the insurer, not the label: a life annuity from an insurer that has never been licensed in Norway. The handbook rule is clearest for an annuity already in payout, such as a life-only or joint and survivor SPIA, or a deferred annuity converted to lifetime payments. A deferred annuity or MYGA still accumulating, or one with a cash-out value, may be classified differently. For the UDI income test the line is separate but similar: UDI told my parents in writing that time-limited 5-year and 12-year annuities do not count, only lifelong ones.
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Estimates use the September 9, 2026 ImmediateAnnuities.com payout survey (life only) and a 15% cushion. Illustrative, not a quote.
The trade-off: payments are taxed as income, gross
Norway gives with one hand and takes with the other. Under Skatte-ABC F-24-5.1, the premium-return relief in skatteloven § 5-41 applies only to annuities from insurers that have or have had a Norwegian license and meet product conditions; otherwise “er utbetalingen skattepliktig med bruttobeløpet” (the payment is taxable at its gross amount, § 5-1). So each payment from a US insurer is taxable in full, including the part that is really your own premium coming back. (A Norwegian-licensed annuity is taxed only on the part above premium repayment, but it is in the wealth base.)
The rate on general income is 22% in 2026. A privately bought annuity is not part of an employment pension scheme, so it should not count as personinntekt and should escape bracket tax and the national insurance contribution. That reading comes from skatteloven § 12-2; confirm it with a Norwegian tax adviser for your own case.
Worked comparison (illustrative)
A single Norway resident, aged 70, with NOK 5 million (about $518,000) of savings above other assets. Payout is illustrative, from the ImmediateAnnuities.com survey of September 9, 2026: $714 a month per $100,000 for a 70-year-old man, life-only (about 8.6% a year). Bank interest of 4% is an assumption. Not a quote.
| Per year, NOK | Keep NOK 5M in the bank | Put NOK 5M into a US life-only SPIA |
|---|---|---|
| Cash you receive | 200,000 interest | about 428,000 lifetime payments |
| Wealth tax | (5.0M minus 1.9M) x 1.0% = 31,000 | 0 |
| Income tax at 22% | 44,000 | about 94,000 |
| Spendable after tax | about 125,000 (principal kept) | about 334,000 (principal converted to income) |
| Counts for UDI’s income requirement? | No (“own funds” are excluded) | Yes, as a permanent periodic benefit |
Read the table fairly. The bank route keeps your principal; the SPIA route spends it down in exchange for income that cannot run out. Much of the SPIA’s income tax is tax on your own returned premium. But if you were going to draw on the savings to live in Norway anyway, the SPIA removes the yearly wealth tax, and it is the only one of the two that UDI counts as income. For an American family that needs both, that is why I call it the best option in Norway.
What I would still check
- Get it in writing for large amounts. Skatteetaten offers a binding advance ruling (bindende forhåndsuttalelse). When my family called, Skatteetaten itself suggested one for the SPIA question.
- Payout phase versus deferred. The handbook rule is clearest for an annuity already paying out. A deferred US annuity with a cash value might be classified differently. Treat a MYGA that is still accumulating as savings until a ruling says otherwise.
- Timing. Buy while you still have a US address: US insurers generally issue only to US residents in states where they are licensed. Wealth is measured on December 31 of each year you are resident.
- US side. A US citizen still uses the US exclusion ratio. Under the 1971 treaty there is no re-sourcing rule, so the US generally does not credit Norwegian tax on a US annuity; Norway credits the US tax instead (Article 23(2)(b)). Confirm the practical effect with a Norwegian tax adviser. See US taxes while living in Norway.
The trade-offs in one place: a life-only SPIA is irreversible, pays a level amount in US dollars (so NOK value moves with the exchange rate), and leaves nothing to heirs unless you add a refund or period-certain option, which lowers the payout. For the right family those are fair prices for income that qualifies, lasts for life and stays out of the wealth tax.
Frequently asked questions
Free annuity gap analysis for Norway. Tell me your ages, your Social Security or pension, and whether you are single or a couple. I will show how far your income is from the Norway requirement and what a lifetime annuity would cost to fill the gap, in the sponsor’s or main applicant’s name where that matters.
Related reading
- Moving to Norway from the US: the hub
- What income counts for UDI, and how a SPIA qualifies
- Norway exit tax on IRAs and 401(k)s
- US taxes while living in Norway
- Countries with a wealth tax: does a SPIA help?
- Formuesskatt og livrente fra utenlandsk forsikringsselskap
Sources
- Skatteetaten: Wealth tax rates 2026
- Lovdata: Skatteloven chapter 4 (sections 4-2 and 4-16)
- Skatteetaten, Skatte-ABC F-24 Livrenteforsikring (F-24-2.1 wealth, F-24-5.1 income)
- Skatteetaten, Skatte-ABC F-24-5.1 (income tax on annuity payments)
- Lovdata: Skatteloven chapter 5 (section 5-41)
- Lovdata: Skatteloven chapter 12 (section 12-2, personal income)
- Skatteetaten: Valuation discount for wealth tax
- Skatteetaten: Tax value of housing 2026
- Skatteetaten: Tax on general income 2026
- IRS: United States and Norway income tax convention (Articles 18, 19, 21, 22)
- ImmediateAnnuities.com: Annuity rates by age (survey of September 9, 2026)
Goldstein & Co. LLC dba Goldstein Insurance Services · Hans Goldstein, licensed insurance agent, CA lic. #4273294 · NPN 20602398 · 213-414-2808 · hans@hansgoldstein.com
Education, not tax, legal or immigration advice. Rules, thresholds and exchange rates change; confirm with the consulate or immigration authority and a local tax adviser before you act, and get answers in writing. Hans Goldstein is a licensed insurance agent (CA 4273294) and can only offer annuities to residents of states where he is licensed. Annuity payments are guaranteed by the issuing insurer’s claims-paying ability, not by any government. Payout figures are illustrations from a published survey, not quotes. Immediate annuities are generally irrevocable.