Information on international tax reporting
Norway has signed two international agreements on the exchange of information on financial assets: FATCA1 and CRS2. As a Coop member, you opened a member account when you registered. The NOK 300 member contribution you paid at the time of registration was deposited into this account, which has also received all subsequent annual member dividend payments. In addition, many members choose to pay further sums into the member account for savings purposes.
Some cooperative societies also give their members the option of depositing savings in a high-interest account offering more favourable interest rates. Both the member account and any high-interest account are defined as financial accounts for the purposes of the FATCA and CRS rules.
Following Norway's adoption of FATCA/CRS, Coop is obliged to provide the Norwegian Tax Administration with an annual statement on Coop members who are not resident in Norway for tax purposes and live in one of the countries covered by the FATCA/CRS rules. The Norwegian Tax Administration forwards this information to the authorities of the countries concerned. Coop's report contains the information detailed in the enclosed self-declaration form and the balances of all financial accounts in your name.
Residence for tax purposes
If you live or stay in Norway for more than 183 days in a 12-month period, or more than 270 days in a 36- month period, you are deemed to be resident in Norway for tax purposes. While different countries may apply different rules on determining residence for tax purposes, you will normally be deemed resident for tax purposes in the place where you live or stay for most of the year. If you are living outside Norway you may be tax resident there.
If this is the case, you must fill in the attached declaration form when you register as a member of a cooperative society. The same applies to persons who live in Norway and have a D-number. (A D-number is an identification number given to persons without a Norwegian national identity number.)
Coop is not able to provide tax advice or to determine where you are resident for tax purposes. Such questions must be discussed with a tax adviser or your local tax office.
TIN number
This is a unique number issued by the country in which a person is resident for tax purposes. This number is used to identify the individual for tax reporting purposes.
Confidential
All information received by Coop in this connection will be kept confidential, and will not be used for other purposes.
1FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) applies to US citizens who are resident in the USA for tax purposes and subject to reporting on that basis.
2CRS (Common Reporting Standard) is an international set of rules on the exchange of information on financial assets between the countries that have signed the CRS agreement.
Self-declaration form
The declaration form should be attached to the frame agreement when you register as a member of a cooperative society. Registration for members who are tax resident outside Norway and members who live in Norway with a D-number has to visit a Coop store for registration.
Please note that if self-declaration form is not attached to the frame agreement, the membership will not be created.