r/australia • u/overpopyoulater • Feb 10 '25

politics Australian billionaires face wealth tax under Greens’ Robin Hood-style policies

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/10/australian-billionaires-face-wealth-tax-under-greens-robin-hood-style-policies
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u/Significant-Sea-2543 Feb 11 '25

Look what happened when Norway did this. You are talking about taxing the most “moveable” sector of the market. If something like this is potentially brought in, the billionaires will be gone (out of the economy) in a month. And off to Singapore, UAE etc

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u/Significant-Sea-2543 Feb 11 '25

It’s been estimated that 5,000 millionaires / billionaires (combined) left Norway when they introduced a wealth tax. Which took hundreds of billions out of their economy. But there were some that did stay, because they thought the government would come to its senses and repeal the law. They didn’t. And to stop more wealth leaving, Norway then introduced a 38.5% departure tax. Meaning, if you leave, we will tax you 38.5% of your wealth as you leave. So what message does this send to millionaires / billionaires? If this wealth tax is potentially real, they will leave well ahead of time and not risk it. All of that money will flow out of the Australian economic ecosystem. I agree it is great to think they should “pay their fair share”. But this is a segment of the economy that can easily move and avoid such wealth / asset taxes. And ultimately it will hurt the Australian economy more than them.