I did my first 8 years offshore working mainly in Norway.
I know everyone goes on about it being highly taxed, but for 2 years when I did almost all of my work in the Norwegian sector, the tax worked out at 28% after you take into account the foreigners allowance of 15% and the seafarers allowance of NOK 70,000.
I understand that if you are able to claim UK Seafarers FED then you do not want to be paying anythng to Norway. However, if you are a UK 40% taxpayer who is unable to claim their tax back, doing part of your year in Norway can work out cheaper as you reduce the amount you will get taxed at 40% in the UK as it works out less than that in Norway.
It seems if you do 1 or 2 short jobs a year in the Norwegian sector then % wise it looks expensive, but the more you do the less it seems.
Oh, also be aware that your Nationality also makes a difference in how much tax you pay. Norway has different tax agreements, say, with the UK than with USA. So the rules can be different (e.g. one Nationality may work say 10 days a year in Norway without paying any tax where asanother has to pay for every day etc.)
I get annoyed when different companies interpret the rules different ways, some say if you are on a vessel which is chartered on an oil/gas contract and the boat is in the Norwegian sector – you are liable Norwegian Tax, no matter what it is doing. Others say when the boat is alongside or in transit, you don’t. And you could never get COFTA (Central Office Foreign Tax Affairs) to give you a straight answer!
Of course cigarettes, alcohol and just about everything else there is expensive. But the women more than make up for that 🙂
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