Dear readers, this week, we learned some lessons about wealth taxes from one of the only countries that actually has one...
Norwegian entrepreneur Karl Alveng Munthe-Kaas will face a hefty tax bill when the grocery company he co-founded in 2013 goes public. But the 37-year-old isn’t bitter; he welcomes it.
For Munthe-Kaas, a system that raises revenue by targeting those with the greatest capacity to pay makes sense. “I think it’s a simple, and also fair, principle,” said Munthe-Kaas. No one in Norway would have become very wealthy, he said, “if it hadn’t been for the public services the government provides.”
Norway’s tax — levied on an individual or couple’s net wealth, above a threshold — is one of only a handful worldwide. But in the U.S., the once-fringe proposal is now getting mainstream attention.
The idea has been championed by high-profile progressive Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), who argue the policy could be a powerful tool to narrow America’s sobering wealth gap, including the enduring racial divide. A tax on the small group of individuals and families who control disproportionate riches could generate much-needed revenue, wealth tax supporters argue, to fund services like health care, child care and education; to tackle pressing issues like climate change; or perhaps to fund a universal basic income. Even some American billionaires, who would be subject to a wealth tax, are in favor of the notion.
Now, a new study of the Norwegian wealth tax upends assumptions that wealth taxes hurt small business owners — and offers insights for the U.S. and other countries as they shape tax policies of their own.
What do you think? We'd love to hear from you. Cheers, Laura and Amanda | 
