Norway's wealth tax trades millionaires for equality

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

65% : With a wealth tax dating back to 1892 and a culture of openness that allows citizens to view the tax returns of others, Norway has more experience than most in squeezing the rich.
59% : Others find the tax hampers firms' performance.
57% : Norway funnels all proceeds from its oil and gas industry into a sovereign wealth fund and caps annual withdrawals at 3% of the fund's value under a self-imposed fiscal rule.
55% : "The wealth tax makes the overall personal tax system more progressive than income tax alone," Deputy Finance Minister Ellen Reitan told Reuters.
53% : Norway's Labour government wants a grand bargain on tax reform over the next two years, inviting all parties to the table.
53% : The wealth tax stays -- in some shape or form.
52% : Leaving Norway triggers an exit tax of 37.8% on unrealised capital gains above 3 million crowns - such as notional gains on shares that have gone up in value but are yet to be sold.
51% : French lawmakers binned a headline-grabbing 2% levy on fortunes above 100 million euros, settling instead for a narrower charge on personal assets parked in holding companies - a measure forecast to raise barely 1 billion euros.
51% : But economists say it shows that any such levy involves a trade-off with economic and political dimensions.
50% : The takeaway: a wealth tax will scare off some millionaires, but if set broadly enough, revenues can still be worth it.
50% : The party had raised the levy and tightened exit rules during its previous term.
50% : Around 40% of emigrants are business owners, according to Princeton researcher Christine Blandhol, who estimates the latest tax changes will cut Norway's output by 1.3% over the long run.
49% : Another study suggests the tax may spur investment in human capital.
48% : A poll by the Response agency for the daily Aftenposten taken just before September's election showed 39% of Norwegians wanted the wealth tax maintained or raised, while 23% wanted to see a reduction and 28% called for abolition.
47% : Britain tops the global list with 16,500 expected departures after scrapping tax breaks for foreign residents.
46% : "The wealth tax system makes it harder for companies to compete with the rest of the world," said Knut-Erik Karlsen, who made his fortune in fish oil supplements and recently moved to Switzerland. Norway taxes capital gains, unlike Switzerland, and imposes higher levies on labour than the OECD average.
46% : Across the Channel, Britain's Labour government has ruled out a formal wealth tax but insists it will keep leaning on those "with the broadest shoulders". Italy, for its part, remains allergic to inheritance hikes yet is quietly tightening its flat regime for wealthy foreigners.
43% : "These findings suggest that the wealth tax does not straightforwardly hinder firm-level investment or employment," said Robert Iacono, professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).
43% : "Not having a wealth tax leads to greater inequality, having one means less capital for startups," NTNU's professor Iacono said.
42% : THE CASE FOR: EQUALITY AND REVENUE Supporters argue the tax acts as a redistributive backstop in a country that scrapped inheritance tax in 2014 and ranks among the world's wealthiest thanks to oil, shipping and fisheries.
41% : The carpenter turned real-estate tycoon says that is the price he pays to escape Norway's beefed-up wealth tax - an annual levy that has driven hundreds of millionaires abroad while underpinning one of the world's most equal societies.
41% : EXODUS OF THE WEALTHY The tax was a defining issue in Norway's election in September, which returned the Labour Party to power.
39% : A wealth levy is especially painful for startup founders, who pay on capital long before profits arrive.
32% : Some of their pictures hang on a "wall of shame" in the offices of the small, opposition Socialist Left party.

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