Mats Staugaard

I want to thank our Norweigan friends for illustrating once more why these types of taxes are so counterproductive. We once considered living full-time in Spain, but dropped the idea after seeing similar rules. Denmark would do well to study. Switzerland will prosper.

The crazy story of how Norway🇳🇴 gifted 5,000 millionaires and $100s of billions to Switzerland🇨🇭in just 2 years: In 2022, Norway raised its wealth tax to 1.1% (highest in Europe) and its capital gains tax to 38% (2nd highest). It made it virtually impossible to preserve wealth in the country and forced Norwegian millionaires out of the country. Here's how: If you have $100m in taxable wealth (to pick a round number), you need to pay $1.1 million in wealth tax each year. But where do you find that $1.1 million? Well, you have to sell off assets. But if you sell $1.1 million of assets, this triggers a 38% capital gains tax, leaving you with just $682k (not enough to pay the wealth tax). So you have to sell MORE assets. To pay both the wealth tax AND the capital gains tax on the money you were forced to raise, you actually have to sell assets worth closer to $1.8 million. Then you need to pay the entire $1.8m to the government - JUST TO KEEP THE MONEY YOU ALREADY PAID TAX ON WHEN YOU MADE IT IN THE FIRST PLACE. In other words, if you do nothing, you lose 1/50th of your wealth every year. And this doesn't even account for inflation or bear market years. It often also means losing control of your company, since you have to sell shares every year. And if you're a startup unfortunate enough to get investment at a high valuation, you will have to borrow money just to pay tax on money you haven't even earned yet! So, 5,000 Norwegians understandably moved to Switzerland, including 500 of the richest people in the country. And the ones who didn't leave in time, hoping for cooler heads to prevail, got punished severely. Because when the government saw what was happening, they introduced an EXIT TAX (effectively a financial Berlin Wall). So now, if you want to leave Norway, you have to pay 38% of the market value of ALL YOUR ASSETS. And the worst part is that the Norwegian government doesn't even need this tax money in the slightest. Because thanks to enormous oil and gas revenue, only about 18% of the government's revenue comes from taxes paid by private citizens. And only a fraction of that from wealth tax. Norway also has the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund, today worth $1.6 TRILLION, or $320,000 per Norwegian. Even if Norway didn't collect a single dollar in tax, it could still fund government spending for a decade using the money in that fund. The Norwegian government does not need the money. It is simply greedy and spiteful. Why would anyone EVER build anything in Norway? This is how you destroy the private sector as fast as possible. I suspect this is what this government ultimately wants since they can then control the remaining population with handouts. Some loopholes still exist, but they are closing fast. If you're a Norwegian who wants to get out of this abusive relationship, let me know, and I will put you in touch with people who can help.