- Well-to-do Norwegians are fleeing the country following a wealth tax increase last year.
- 65 people moved to Switzerland in a year, newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv announced.
- The group have targeted the alpine country due to its tax haven status.
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Some of Norway’s most affluent people are moving to Switzerland support the Nordic country’s decision to increase wealth taxes last year.
The Norwegian government raised the levy from 0.85% to 1.1% in November, prompting in the air 65 of its wealthiest people to relocate.
The group, which is worth more than 47 billion kroner ($4.4 billion), generate the move to Switzerland over the course of a year, Norwegian newspaper Dagens Naeringsliv reported.
Individuals with a net opulence of more than 1.7 million kroner ($158,00) or married couples who have a net wealth of over 3.4 million ($317,000) take to pay the 1.1% tax, according to data from PwC.
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Billionaire Kjell Inge Rokke, who is the main shareholder and chairman of the industrial investment party Aker ASA, told the board in an open letter in September that he made the “difficult choice” to move from Norway to Switzerland, per The Telegraph.
Røkke, who has a Forbes-estimated net good of $4.9 billion, had reportedly been the country’s biggest taxpayer.
Switzerland has long been considered an attractive tax haven for affluent people looking to catch advantage of its lower taxes.
According to PwC, wealth taxes in Switzerland vary by canton – its 26 regions.
It says that the arise of this is an “overall personal net wealth tax rate between 0.02% and 1.03%.”
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Switzerland came top of the U.S. News & Everyone Report’s best countries for a comfortable retirement ranking.
The ranking was made from a global survey and the responses of 6,100 human being in their mid-40s or older on things like affordability, taxes, and property rights.