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Comment by Calvin02 | Hacker News Reader

The article isn't about income taxes. Income taxes are taxes on income that you earn in any calendar year.

The article is about wealth taxes. In addition to income taxes, Norway has a wealth tax, which taxes net wealth above $170k (NOK 1.7M) at 1% [0]. So, if your net wealth is $200k, you are taxed 1% on $30k every year.

Separately, it is a myth that the wealthy don't pay taxes. This isn't Reddit. Wealthy pay taxes but they also maximize the value of any benefits already included in the tax code. AMT is an attempt to fix this but has its own problems.

[0] https://www.lifeinnorway.net/wealth-tax/

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Ironically, America does have a wealth tax if you want to relinquish your citizenship. I don't think Norway does, and many rich Scandinavians change citizenship to Switzerland negotiating their taxes straight with the canton they move to (like the founder of Ikea did). It is easier for a Norwegian to optimize their taxes than an American (since America also taxes worldwide income, and you can't just change your citizenship without paying a penalty).

Presumably they don’t need to change their citizenship, they just become tax resident in another country. Most countries only tax residents. Norway is part of the EEA so its citizens have the right to live in Switzerland.

Ya, so it is even easier for Europeans. And it wouldn't matter if they were a part of the EEA or not, they would almost definitely negotiate their taxes with the canton of their residency as part of their move (you can easily buy residency in Switzerland). The EEA is more for normal people from the EU who want to work in Switzerland and pay normal taxes (which are still low for Europe).

The US exit tax is not a wealth tax. It is calling due any deferred capital gains taxes. If you have a billion dollars cash, you can leave and pay zero tax. If you have a billion dollars in assets that have not appreciated since you bought them, you pay zero tax.

It is only comes into play if you have investment assets that have gone up since purchase, and you have paid no taxes on them because they are taxed at the time of sale.

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.

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