Expat Taxes

Norway Slightly Increases Wealth Tax, Rich Leave Nation In Droves

Norway Slightly Increases Wealth Tax, Rich Leave Nation In Droves

Norwegian government authorities slightly increased the nation's wealth tax, which has led rich residents to leave in droves. 

The tax now sits at a rate of 1.1%, which does not sound significant but is, in fact, much higher than the wealth tax in other nearby countries like Switzerland. A new report notes that a "record number" of high-net-worth Norwegians are leaving after the wealth tax increase measure was passed.

Business news outlet Dagens Naeringsliv researched the situation in depth, confirming that over 30 Norwegian billionaires and multimillionaires left the Scandinavian nation in 2022 alone. This, the publication shared, was more than the total number of wealthy people who moved away during the previous 13 years combined.

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Credit: Jorg Greuel/Getty Images

Among those who have relocated is Kjell Inge Røkke, the fourth richest Norwegian. Last year, Røkke penned an open letter to the board of his company, writing, “A difficult choice has been made. I’ve moved from Asker, Norway, to Lugano in Switzerland."

Røkke was Norway’s biggest taxpayer. His move to Switzerland will cost Norway about NOK 175m ($16,542,925.00 USD) in tax revenue annually.

More super-wealthy individuals are expected to leave during the remainder of 2023 as a direct result of the wealth tax increase, which takes effect in November of this year.

This will ultimately cost the Norwegian government tens of millions -- if not hundreds of millions -- in lost taxes.

In an attempt to combat this recent trend, Norway is hitting fleeing millionaires and billionaires with stricter rules regarding expatriate taxes.

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Credit: Arctic-Images/Getty Images

Per a November 2022 Bloomberg article, Norway abolished its five-year time limit on the exit tax pertaining to unrealized gains on shares and other assets extending the rules “to apply to the transfer of shares to close family members living abroad."

Since Norway is one of the wealthiest nations in the world, the seemingly insignificant wealth tax increase actually has a major impact on high-income earners who reside in the country.

Ole Gjems-Onstad, a professor emeritus at the Norwegian Business School, shared his opinion about the mass exodus, of sorts.

“In my opinion it is a little bit like Brexit," Gjems-Onstad said, "Norway has no great tradition of self-harm, and the flood of entrepreneurs moving abroad has come as something of a shock. Some politicians are, as you know, blaming the wealthy people moving, but I think many ordinary people quite simply do not like that our best investors are leaving.”

What do you think about this trend of the wealthy leaving Norway?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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