Norwegian trinnskatt 2026: the five step bracket tax
Trinnskatt is the progressive part of Norwegian income tax. It replaced the old toppskatt in 2016 and now runs in five steps. The thing that catches people out is what it is charged on: gross pay, with none of the deductions that apply to the rest of the system.
The 2026 steps
| Step | Applies from | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Trinn 1 | NOK 226,100 | 1.7% |
| Trinn 2 | NOK 318,300 | 4.0% |
| Trinn 3 | NOK 725,050 | 13.7% |
| Trinn 4 | NOK 980,100 | 16.8% |
| Trinn 5 | NOK 1,467,200 | 17.8% |
Each rate applies only to the slice of income inside its band, so reaching trinn 3 does not mean paying 13.7% on everything. Below NOK 226,100 no trinnskatt is due at all.
What changed for 2026
The thresholds were uprated by 4.0% projected wage growth, and the top two rates each rose by 0.1 percentage points, from 16.7% to 16.8% and from 17.7% to 17.8%. That last detail matters because a number of Norwegian advisory sites still publish the 2025 pair on pages labelled for 2026. Skatteetaten's own rate page has a year selector that settles it.
It is charged on gross pay
This is the part most calculators get wrong. Norway has two tax bases. The flat 22% applies to alminnelig inntekt, which is pay after the minstefradrag and the personfradrag. Trinnskatt applies to personinntekt, which is gross pay with nothing deducted. So a deduction that reduces your 22% bill does nothing at all to your trinnskatt. The two tax bases guide works through what that means in practice.
Where the top marginal rate lands
Adding the pieces together, someone in the top band pays 22% on ordinary income, 17.8% trinnskatt and 7.6% national insurance, which gives a marginal rate of about 47.4%. That is the ceiling: there is no further band above it.
The Norway salary calculator shows trinnskatt as its own line, and the methodology page lists the source for every figure here.