Wealth tax? Yes, but not for most people

Photo: Parliament on Election Night 2021 (Peter Mydske)
Photo: Parliament on Election Night 2021 (Peter Mydske)

22 September 2021 13:13

Wealth tax? Yes, but not for most people

Øyvind Thomassen: A new Norwegian Parliament, where the central point has shifted towards the centre and the left, has a unique opportunity to pass a progressive wealth tax that should have a far broader appeal among voters than the current wealth tax.

With a basic allowance at 70 or 100 millions NOK and a progressive tax rate wealth tax will be a tax on wealth that on the whole will be liberated from personal consume - that is, wealth that mostly remains untouched within companies, and that, consequently, yield, capital gains and other things are not taxed. This will indeed be a suitable way to tax large increases in wealth that cannot easily be defined as income, Øyvind Thomassen writes.

His feature article Formuesskatt? Ja, men ikke for folk flest (in Norwegian) was published in Dagens Næringsliv on 16 September, 2021.