Norway attempt to ‘tax the rich’ results in yearly tax revenue loss

A European experiment akin to “Atlas Shrugged” foreshadows how Vice President Kamala Harris’ “Opportunity Economy” could play out.

Despite examples proving the contrary, wealth confiscation remains a popular tactic of leftists who favor pitting the have-nots against the haves to rile up support while dragging everyone down instead of lifting everyone up. In the case of White House hopeful Harris, this means promising a tax on unrealized gains in the chase of the ever-undefined “fair share” that Marxists seek.

With Election Day drawing near, the social media account unusual_whales brought up a recent case proving how counterproductive such a scheme would be, even if only implemented on the top earners, as Norway’s attempt led to a striking plummet in collected tax revenue.

“The recent wealth tax increase in Norway was expected to bring an additional $146 million in yearly tax revenue, per the Guardian,” stated the account. “Instead, individuals worth $54 billion left the country, leading to a lost $594 million in yearly tax revenue.”

While places of refuge remained, the wealthy, who arguably have the greatest means by which to relocate, were able to do their own cost-benefit analysis and saw sticking around to subsidize the government wasn’t the best use of their money.

As it happened, Norway’s wealth tax that cost the country more than half a billion in annual collections resulted from a 1.1% imposition on the wealthiest leading the likes of billionaire Kjell Inge Røkke to state in an open letter, “I’ve chosen Lugano as my new residence — it is neither the cheapest nor has the lowest taxes — but in return, it is a great place with a central location in Europe… For those close to the company and to me, I am just a click away.”

By comparison, while Harris attempted to steer clear of policy plans by peddling platitudes, even Snopes recognized that the vice president’s proposals included a whopping 25% unrealized capital gains tax on those with a net worth of $100 million or more.

While the fact-check dismissed concerns about the tax being applied to all income earners in America, the trajectory of leftist policies remains one-directional.

Reacting to the spotlighted outcome a little more than two weeks ahead of the 2024 election, investor and author Carol Roth pointed out, “Virtually every time some European country tries a wealth tax, they abandon it after seeing the same outcome.”

Similarly, as others sounded off with mentions of globalist schemes to seize assets and the means of production, or as the World Economic Forum put it, “You’ll own nothing and you’ll be happy,” Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, who is investing his own time and money into helping former President Donald Trump defeat Harris, simply reacted on X, “No surprise.”

Kevin Haggerty

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