Sweden's wealthy weigh exit as wealth tax proposals gain momentum before elections
Bloomberg reports rich Swedes are exploring ways to shield assets — including leaving the country — as new fortune-tax proposals build support ahead of next month's general election.
What to know
- Bloomberg reports wealthy Swedes are exploring ways to shield assets, including leaving the country, as fortune-tax proposals gain support before next month's general election.
- The story has drawn comparisons to Norway, where a wealth tax reportedly pushed some entrepreneurs abroad, and to the UK's non-dom exodus to Switzerland.
- Online debate centers on whether taxing illiquid wealth (like founder equity) is workable versus whether the wealthy are simply resisting overdue tax increases.
The dispute Whether a wealth tax raises meaningful revenue and fairly targets the ultra-rich, or mainly drives capital and entrepreneurs abroad while burdening the merely comfortable. · positions read across 30 posts and comments
The wealthy have benefited from decades of tax cuts and should contribute more; resistance is driven by self-interest.
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“They have been the great beneficiaries of 25 years of tax decrease and yet whine when somebody desire a minor increase. They are just selfish and greedy.”
6MagiskaLaxar · reddit ↗
Wealth taxes just push the rich to relocate, so countries lose them entirely rather than collecting more revenue.
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“So the UK’s super rich will leave the UK, Norway’s super rich will leave Norway, and Sweden's super rich will leave Sweden... Good riddance!”
Headpuncher · reddit
Taxing illiquid wealth is technically flawed and unfairly hurts founders and entrepreneurs who must sell stakes to pay.
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“Taxing assets is complicated since they will be forced to sell stocks to pay the tax, and slowly (or quickly depending on implementation) lose controlling interest of the companies they often created.”
quadrantcowboy · reddit ↗
So-called wealth taxes end up hitting the middle class more than the truly rich.
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“The politicians know this. They call it a wealth tax but basically it’s a tax on the middle class.”
Vonplinkplonk · reddit ↗
“So the UK’s super rich will leave the UK, Norway’s super rich will leave Norway, and Sweden's super rich will leave Sweden, France’s super rich will leave France, and they can go to Switzerland and die there as bitter old men. Good riddance!”
Headpuncher, reddit commenter · reddit · Aug 27
Sweden's wealthy subjects of the proposed wealth taxBloomberg reporting outlet@unusual_whales financial news X account
The record 2 articles and posts · last 30 days
What people are saying 23 voices from 2 sites · best of 30 · verbatim
- Would a Swedish wealth tax actually recoup enough revenue once emigration and avoidance are accounted for?
- How should illiquid assets like founder equity be valued and taxed without forcing sales?
- Aug 31
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Sweden’s wealthy are weighing options to protect their assets, and even exit the country, as proposals for new taxes on large fortunes gain momentum before next month’s general elections, per Bloomberg.
- Aug 29
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In case you missed it, there has always been extreme inequality, and I really don't think you want to take the historical aspect if you are in favor or equality.
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nah he's a nice guy. Very smart and money motivated though. I was a bit amazed at how much he is able to save in the transition - the charlie chaplin regime in Switzerland is total giveaway
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While I generally agree with you, the plural of anecdote is, in fact, data, and synecdoche is also a thing. I also believe incentives drive outcomes and I'm pretty amazed that he's been able to get away with two years of no tax to anywhere legally by moving from London base to Swiss base. In his case, it's a phenomenal amount of money. He finds…
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So basically if you put in 10000, and it grows, then you can get 10000 out again tax free and after that you pay tax on each extraction (till you add some more money). And the fees or other costs that you pay are automatically distraction from your gains so you do not pay taxes on them. I imagine dividends just get added to the gains and are taxed…
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Isnt that just normal? I also hate every single Rappen of taxes I have to pay and every couple of years I go to a financial advisor to see if there is anything I can shave of my tax bill without it being outright illegal.
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Denmark only have property tax as a wealth tax. All the others were removed. As long as income from wealth is taxed I think it is fine. No reason to push big tax payers away.
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Myth? No. Most of the ultra rich stayed the problems is more so to do with startups and entrepreneurs leaving to places like Sweden as they don’t want to be forced to sell of some amount of their company to pay a tax on working capital. And also having a wealth tax that only applies for Norwegian citizens based on valuation of a company is in no…
- Aug 28
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Don't get me wrong, i am all for the idea of making the super rich contribute economically, but it has always been a tricky problem on how to actually tax them since they have no salary. No one ever gets that rich by working in the traditional sense. Taxing assets is complicated since they will be forced to sell stocks to pay the tax, and slowly…
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They have been the great beneficiaries of 25 years of tax decrease and yet whine when somebody desire a minor increase. They are just selfish and greedy.
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But that wealth has already been paid taxes on. That poor person with a net worth of 10k making 200k a year will pay lots of taxes over a 35 year career and will end up with a nest egg a lot more than 10k. So why should that nest egg, built with money that was already taxed, be taxed again and again and again?
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I personally know people in the UK who are shifting their tax residency to Switzerland. So given how few people I know, I bet it is pretty common. One friend has been able to pay zero tax to either country for a couple of years due to various ways the systems line up.
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it’s not for no reason that swedish economy has had it’s best growth under social democratic governments when the state accounted for most of the economy. it’s all folly, you’ll see. no actually, when we end up in a cyberpunk/alien future with corporate governments, i am 100% sure you’ll still have brainwashed workers defend them. in fact i would…
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Okay but " it is fine because it won't have a big negative effect on the rich people" is specifically what I am objecting to. If I say 2+2 = 5, and you say "no it isn't", me saying "it is fine because it won't have a big negative effect on the rich people" is stupid because its beside the point.
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No increase taxation over 2 million not cap investment at 2 million. V: Sänka skattefria nivån till 50 000 kr, höjd skattesats för de som har mer än 2 msek
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I am leaving. Impossible to save anything here, the government literally takes anything after bread and cheese budget.
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Not really tho. Countries aren't growing richer, individuals do. A country overall "gets richer" (accumulates wealth) by producing valuable products (physical or not does not matter). All other, including the sale of companies, are just putting money from one pocket to an other, does not produce actual wealth.
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The people i know that are very wealthy (not billionaires though) are basically treating wealth generation the same as a dude that is obsessed with a video game. They are ALWAYS at it, they are starting and selling companies, buying, selling and renting out properties finding every tax loophole imaginable and they never stop. These people don't…
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You know this from your experience staring at the swiss vermogenssteuer while owning venture-backed stock with its inflated valuations do you.
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Everything is a tax on what has already been taxed. When you go to buy bread you give already taxed money to the baker who will in turn pay taxes on them. If you have more than one house, which you bought with already taxed money, you will need to pay taxes on it just for owning it (and that's a wealth tax). It's flow vs stock. Moreover, here we…
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What you are saying is that Finland is a rich country, not that I am personally a rich person. That is a significant difference. There is an absolute limit of how much more taxes I could pay to more or less maintain my current standard of living, and it is something that would be peanuts to actually rich people. Remember that we were discussing…
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Like, idk, bankrupting people who own illiquid stock that's really valuable but has no buyers and no returns. Something that never actually happened ever ..
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No it doesn't. It implies that we can objectively see when taking money from people would make people's physical existence noticeably poorer, and it is possible to construct near infinite small taxes that individually produce limited noticeable impact on any mildly successful citizen. And that therefore this is a terrible decision criterion for a…