FT: Rich Norwegians flee to low-tax Switzerland as wealth levy bites

More than 30 of the richest Norwegians have fled to Switzerland and other countries over the past year as business leaders voice concerns over the wealth taxes levied by the centre-left government in Oslo.

Public filings to Norway’s population registry show that at least 30 billionaires and millionaires swapped the prosperous Scandinavian nation for the lower-tax Alpine jurisdiction in 2022, including fishing-to-oil magnate Kjell Inge Røkke, its one-time richest person, according to Financial Times.

Others have moved to countries including Cyprus, Italy and Canada.

More are likely to follow suit as the rich fret about tax changes they say hurt the country’s competitiveness, according to wealthy Norwegians and tax consultants.

The latest is Fredrik Haga, the 31-year-old co-founder of the $1bn-valued cryptocurrency data business Dune who will on Saturday formally register his switch from Norway to Zug in Switzerland. “I had to choose: am I based in Norway or do I want this company to succeed? It’s not about not wanting to pay taxes. It’s about paying taxes on the money I don’t have,” he told the Financial Times