Two years ago, tax professor Ole Gjems-Onstad wrote the book “Let entrepreneurs move”. In the book, he wrote that the Norwegian wealth tax was the harshest in the world and was harmful to the country. The book was published while Erna Solberg was prime minister Since then, the red-green government has taken over, and in practice doubled the tax for owning companies from Norway. At the same time, the migration flow from Norway has accelerated this year. Many state tax as the reason and that they have to drain their companies of capital that could otherwise have been used for investments in order to have the money to pay it. – What you see now is that our best entrepreneurs are moving, those who have had the most success. And what then happens is that we become more alike, we who then remain. For example, when a person like Røkke moves, with an estimated net worth of NOK 20 billion, those of us who are left will be NOK 4,000 better off, says Gjems-Onstad, who is now professor emeritus at BI Business School. Industrial owner Kjell Inge Røkke is the main owner of Aker and companies that employ 18,000 people in Norway. He now lives in Switzerland. Photo: Anne Skifjeld / news The magazine Kapital has estimated that almost NOK 500 billion in “Norwegian assets” are managed from abroad. Slightly simplified, Gjems-Onstad believes that this means that those of us who still live in the country we have moved to have become almost NOK 100,000 better off. – Contradiction between equality and welfare Reducing inequality has a separate point in the government declaration from Hurdal. Statistics Norway’s measurements show that there is great inequality in the distribution of wealth in Norway. – That a person like Røkke moves is unfortunate for the country, it is unfortunate for our welfare and the future we will create independent of oil. There is a contradiction between this great search for equality and wanting welfare for Norway, says Gjems-Onstad. For the record, it must be mentioned that Røkke himself has never said that taxes are the reason why he moved to Switzerland this autumn. In the letter to the co-shareholders in Aker in connection with the move, he writes that he “relates to the realities and makes decisions based on them”. But with the new tax measures from the government, the tax bill for Aker’s largest owner could probably end up at more than NOK 1 million every day. Just to live in Norway. The government’s own figures show that the migration flow out of Norway among particularly wealthy Norwegians has doubled in 2022 compared to the average of the last 12 years. Several predict that the flow of people moving will increase, despite the fact that the government recently changed two tax rules that may have an impact on those who move from the country. – More people will move Per-Ole Hegdahl heads the tax department at Danske Bank. He says that many who make contact are annoyed by the sharp tax increase. – I am completely convinced that this trend will increase in the future. And if they move during the year, they will not appear on the tax lists for next year, he says. Per-Ole Hegdahl, head of the tax department at Danske Bank. Photo: Johan B. Sættem But finance minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum does not agree with the criticism, and believes that the picture that appears in the media about the rich moving abroad does not paint a fair picture of the realities. He refers to figures that the Ministry of Finance has obtained from the Swedish Tax Agency for the last 12 years. They show that there are slightly more people who have moved out of the country than those who have moved in. In addition, those who moved out had a higher average wealth, he writes in a written reply to the Storting. – Those who have a lot must contribute more – We need people who have both small and large fortunes in Norway. It is good. And if we look over time, more people with wealth have moved into Norway than out. But it is important in the Norwegian splicing team that those who have a lot contribute more, says the finance minister. – But it is probably not the case that we get more welfare in Norway because the most wealthy move from the country because of the tax system. Many cite the harsh taxation of Norwegian ownership as the reason? – But we must have a tax system that is redistributive and that creates business. But that also means that those with the lowest incomes get less tax, while those with the highest incomes have to pay a little more, he says. Trygve Slagsvold Vedum, Minister of Finance, outside news Marienlyst Photo: David Skovly / news It was energy policy spokesman Ove Trellevik in the Conservative Party who asked Vedum questions in the Storting about tax shifting for the rich. The Minister of Finance replied that the government believes that Norway has not lost wealth tax revenue in recent years due to emigration. – Worryingly, Trellevik has no faith that the flow of people moving out of the country will decrease, despite the fact that the government recently removed the so-called five-year rule. The rule meant that, within a few years abroad, you could avoid tax on previously unrealized gains in Norwegian companies if you sold your home and broke the formal ties to Norway. – It is disturbing and a terribly bad sign that so many choose to move because the wealth tax will be very high. Then other negative consequences can be that many business owners have to take so much out of their company that it affects operations and the ability to employ people. That is the worst of all, he says. Tax professor Guttorm Schjelderup at NHH has previously told news that he believes the five-year rule is the most important reason why many choose to move.
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We get better the more rich people shift taxes – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
