So-called “tax refugees” have caused a number of politicians to react. The parties that have perhaps reacted most strongly are SV and Rødt, because several of Norway’s billionaires have moved to Switzerland – including investor Jens Rugseth.
And precisely he chooses to answer what Marie Sneve Martinussen (R) and Kari Elisabeth Kaski (SV) are wondering about Finansavisen. It is in connection with the annual event called “The Share Panel”, that Rugseth tries to clarify the choice to move to Switzerland.
He uses the opportunity to make several jabs at Norwegian politics.
Martinussen gets two questions, and one of the questions reads as follows:
– Do you save the most tax by avoiding wealth tax to Norway, or by not having to pay dividend tax to Norway on latent income earned in Norway?
– The question is meaningless because Marie Sneve compares value development with income. Latent income is a term the left operates with because they do not understand the difference between money in the bank and money in ideas, machines, people and market position, answers Rugseth in Finansavisen.
– A liberation
Furthermore, Martinussen follows up with questions about whether he would move to Switzerland, if he and other Norwegian citizens still had to pay wealth tax to Norway. There is no doubt for the investor.
– After living in Switzerland for a year, I have to say yes unconditionally. The balance of power between the people and the politicians in Switzerland means that the country is doing much better. Better health services, better schools, better infrastructure, better competitiveness and not least not having to listen to politicians on TV every day telling you how to live your life. It is a liberation, says Rugseth.
Kaski also asks the billionaire questions. She also gets rather harsh answers back from him. The SV politician wonders if he thinks it is unsupportive not to contribute to a society which she believes has made people like Rugseth rich.
He believes the SV politician is implying that the citizens exist for the state, a premise he disagrees with.
– The state is an organization the citizens have chosen in order to be able to cover services that individuals themselves find difficult to handle alone. The state has no intrinsic value beyond offering the services citizens see themselves benefiting from the state delivering on behalf of all citizens. As for me, who was asked to pay 15 times my own consumption in taxes, I would say it is a greedy state that is the problem.
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Surprised at “The Debate”
This is not the first time Rugseth has both answered the politicians’ questions and challenged them back. He appeared in NRK’s ”Debate” in April, where he was clear, among other things, that his income was not enough to cover all the tax expenses he faced in Norway.
He also took the opportunity to make a sour jab at Minister of Industry Jan Christian Vestre (Ap), and gave him a Swedish flag.
– We have the highest capital taxation for owners, no matter how you twist it. It’s actually so bad that I have a gift from some Swedish investors who are so grateful that you support their competitiveness in Norway, said Rugseth and gave the Swedish flag to Vestre.
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He is still Norway’s richest
2023-12-26 15:24:35
#Reprimanded #tax #evaders #Meaningless
