Norwegians moving to Greece are mostly freelancers with Norwegian clients, remote employees, AS owners and retirees. Norway is not in the EU, but EU social security rules apply through the EEA. This guide covers the Norwegian exit and points you to the right Greek setup.
The short answer
- Report the move to the National Population Register if you leave for six months or more, but that alone does not end your Norwegian tax liability.
- The ten-year line: after ten years or more in Norway, tax residency ends at the earliest three years after the year you move.
- Exit tax on shares: becoming resident in Greece under the treaty can trigger Norwegian exit tax on latent gains above a NOK 3 million deduction.
- The 1988 treaty is in force and decides who taxes what once you live in Greece.
- Norwegian pensions are taxed in Norway for Greek residents (15% withholding); Greece taxes them too and credits the Norwegian tax.
- Social security follows your work: freelancers working from Greece join EFKA.
- Article 5C (50% exemption for 7 years) and Article 5B (7% on all foreign income for 15 years) are open to Norwegian movers who qualify.
1. Ending Norwegian tax residency
If you stay abroad for six months or more, you report the move to the National Population Register (Folkeregisteret), no more than 31 days before you leave. Skatteetaten is clear that this does not end your tax liability: until it does, you are taxed in Norway on your worldwide income and wealth.
Norwegian tax residency ends only when you meet three conditions: you have settled permanently abroad, you spend no more than 61 days in Norway in the income year (every started day counts), and neither you nor your spouse, partner or minor children have access to a home in Norway.
- Less than ten years in Norway in total: your tax residency can end in the year all three conditions are met.
- Ten years or more: it ends at the earliest three years after the year you move, and you must meet the conditions throughout those years.
A holiday home is allowed, and so is a home you have owned for at least five years without anyone in the family living in it. You claim tax emigration in your tax return under “Emigration”.
While Norway still treats you as resident, the treaty can settle the overlap. If you become treaty resident in Greece, Norway generally taxes you only on income the treaty lets it tax, such as Norwegian pensions, Norwegian property and dividends from Norwegian companies. You claim this in your Norwegian tax return with a certificate of residence from AADE. The tie-breaker in Article 4 of the treaty follows OECD lines: permanent home first, then centre of vital interests, habitual abode and nationality.
In Greece, you become tax resident with your main home or centre of life here, or after 183 days in 12 months.
2. Exit tax and the year you leave
Norway charges exit tax on the latent gain on shares, fund units and similar assets when you become treaty resident abroad or emigrate for tax purposes (section 10-70 of the Tax Act). For moves from 20 November 2024, a NOK 3 million basic deduction applies to the net latent gain. You can pay at once, pay in instalments over 12 years or defer the full amount for 12 years; within the EEA, security is required only if there is a real risk the tax cannot be collected. You confirm your residence and remaining holdings every year by 30 April. The rules changed three times in 2024 alone (20 March, 7 October, 20 November), so check the version for your move date.
If you close an enkeltpersonforetak, you report the deletion to the Brønnøysund Register Centre with a Coordinated register notification in Altinn, report sales of business assets on the final VAT return and include the winding-up year in the tax return you file the following year.
If you run a Norwegian AS alone from Greece, Greece may treat it as resident because it is managed here; under Article 4(3) of the treaty, the place of effective management decides a dual claim. Norway also keeps the right to tax gains on shares in Norwegian companies under its own law (Article 13(5)), on top of any exit tax. Agree the structure with your Norwegian adviser before you leave. For a new Greek company, see setting up an IKE.
3. The 1988 tax treaty
The convention signed in Oslo on 27 April 1988 was ratified in Greece by Law 1924/1991. The instruments were exchanged in Athens on 16 September 1991, and the treaty applies from 1 January 1992. Norway lists it among the treaties covered by the OECD multilateral instrument. As of October 2026 it is in force.
Article 18 says pensions, social security payments and similar income are taxed in the country where the recipient lives, but without the word “only” that the treaty uses where one country taxes alone. Norway therefore keeps its own right to tax: Skatteetaten lists Greece among the countries where all pensions and disability benefits paid from Norway are taxable in Norway. Article 19 has no separate rule for pensions from public employers. Greece taxes the same pension as your country of residence and, under Article 24, credits the Norwegian tax up to the Greek tax on that income.
4. How your income is taxed
| Income | Taxed in |
|---|---|
| Freelance work done from Greece | Greece, unless you keep a fixed base in Norway or spend more than 183 days there on average in a 12-month period |
| Employment | Greece for work done from Greece; Norway can also tax days worked in Norway |
| Rent from Norwegian property | Norway; Greece credits |
| Norwegian pensions and disability benefits | Norway (15% withholding); Greece taxes too and credits |
| Norwegian dividends | Norway, capped at 20% under the treaty; Greece credits only up to its own 5% dividend tax |
| Norwegian interest | Greece; the treaty caps any Norwegian tax at 10% |
| Sale of Norwegian property | Norway; Greece credits |
| Gains on shares after the move | Greece; Norway can also tax gains on shares in Norwegian companies, and deferred exit tax falls due on sale |
5. Freelancers and remote workers
You delete your enkeltpersonforetak, register as a sole trader in Greece and invoice from there.
- Norwegian business clients are invoiced without Greek VAT, as the service is supplied outside the EU (VAT with foreign clients).
- Social security: EU Regulation 883/2004 applies to Norway through the EEA Agreement, so you are insured where you work: with EFKA, from about €150 per month for new freelancers (EFKA guide). Work abroad can end your membership of the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme. An A1 from Nav helps when a Norwegian employer posts you for up to two years; special rules apply if you work in both countries.
- Greek routine: VAT returns monthly for the first 24 months for new businesses with simple books, then quarterly on request; myDATA for every invoice; and e-invoicing for invoices to Greek and non-EU businesses from 2 November 2026, with a transition to 31 January 2027. Norwegian clients are non-EU, so your invoices to them are in scope (e-invoicing). The tax advance is halved only in your first year with business income.
Steps in order: AFM, freelancer setup, freelancer taxes 2026.
Employees who keep a Norwegian contract and work permanently from Greece are taxed in Greece on those workdays and fall under EFKA, so the employer must register in Greece. Many switch to freelancing instead (5C for EU remote workers).
6. Retirees
- Tax: once you are no longer tax resident in Norway, Norwegian payers deduct 15% withholding tax on National Insurance, occupational and private pensions, with no tax-free amount. You apply for a new tax deduction card with form RF-1290 when you move. As an EEA resident, you can ask to be taxed like a Norwegian resident if at least 90% of your income is taxable in Norway.
- Payment: you keep your retirement pension from National Insurance when you move to another EEA country, at the same amount. Report the move to Nav, and answer a life certificate when Nav asks for one.
- Health: pensioners who settle in another EEA country are no longer members of the National Insurance Scheme. With a Norwegian state pension, you apply to Helfo for form S1 and register it with EFKA for Greek care; an unregistered S1 gives no rights. While you hold an S1, you keep paying Norwegian National Insurance contributions.
- Article 5B: if you receive a foreign pension and were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years, your foreign income is taxed at 7% for 15 years. Move by 2 July and you can apply by 31 October of that year; move later and it starts the following year (A.1192/2026). The treaty does not leave Norwegian pensions, rent or dividends to Norway alone, so they fall under the 7% too. On this reading of the treaty, both countries may tax them, so Norwegian tax is credited against the 7% up to the Greek tax on that income, and any excess is not refunded (A.1192/2026, art. 5). With 15% withheld in Norway, no Greek tax remains on your Norwegian pension, and the extra 8% is lost. 5B pays off mainly when most of your income is not Norwegian (7% flat tax).
7. Article 5C: the 50% exemption
If you were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years, Article 5C exempts 50% of Greek employment or business income for 7 years. You need a Greek employer, a Greek establishment of a foreign employer, or your own sole proprietorship in Greece (an IKE does not count, nor does a salary from your Norwegian AS). Start by 2 July and you apply by 31 December of that year; later, by 31 December of the next. AADE allows it alongside 5A or 5B. Digital Nomad Visa holders are not eligible (5C vs DNV).
How we can help
We prepare and file the Greek side: tax and business registration, the 5C or 5B application, and your returns as part of our ongoing bookkeeping. The Norwegian exit stays with your Norwegian adviser; we share the Greek documents they need. Send us a message for a free check.
Frequently asked questions
When does my Norwegian tax residency end if I move to Greece?
If you lived in Norway for less than ten years in total, it can end in the year you settle permanently abroad, stay no more than 61 days in Norway and have no access to a home there. After ten years or more, it ends at the earliest three years after the year you move, and the same conditions apply throughout. You claim tax emigration in your Norwegian tax return.
Is there a tax treaty between Norway and Greece?
Yes. The convention signed in Oslo on 27 April 1988 was ratified in Greece by Law 1924/1991, entered into force on 16 September 1991 and applies from 1 January 1992. Norway lists it among the treaties covered by the OECD multilateral instrument. As of October 2026 it is in force.
Is my Norwegian pension taxed in Greece or in Norway?
Both. Article 18 of the treaty gives pensions to the country where you live but does not say “only”, and Skatteetaten states that for residents of Greece all pensions and disability benefits paid from Norway are taxable in Norway, with 15% withholding once you are no longer tax resident there. Greece taxes the pension too and credits the Norwegian tax up to the Greek tax on it.
Do I stay in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme if I freelance from Greece?
Generally no. EU Regulation 883/2004 applies to Norway through the EEA Agreement, so you are insured where you work, and a freelancer living and working in Greece joins EFKA. An A1 from Nav helps when a Norwegian employer posts you abroad for up to two years; special rules apply if you work in both countries.
Can I use the Greek 50% tax break (Article 5C) when moving from Norway?
Yes, if you were not Greek tax resident in 5 of the previous 6 years and take a job with a Greek employer or register as a sole trader in Greece. Digital Nomad Visa holders are not eligible.
Rules as of October 2026 (Norwegian Tax Act s. 10-70, Norway–Greece tax treaty 1988 (Law 1924/1991), EU Regulation 883/2004 via the EEA Agreement, Greek Income Tax Code art. 5B/5C, A.1192/2026).