Founder @ Kahoot! & We Are Human | Captain @EntrepreneurShipOne | Fellow at The RSA | Explores Club
Seems like it’s not just us locals who question the sanity of our current (soon to be x) government. One of the core challenges in economic policy is finding the right balance in using the tax system to encourage certain behaviors without inadvertently penalising productivity and innovation. Kahneman's insights in "Thinking, Fast and Slow" about the interplay between our instinctual reactions (System 1) and our more deliberative processes (System 2) are incredibly pertinent. As taxes can both motivate and demotivate, understanding the nuanced human responses to incentives and penalties—rooted in Kahneman's observation that people often feel the sting of losses more acutely than the pleasure of gains—becomes crucial. This insight helps explain why punitive taxes and pre-taxation on unrealised income can be especially discouraging for entrepreneurs and investors, even when meant to foster sustainable investments & sense of fairness. The current debate in Norway about capital taxes for owners & founders underscores the problem of short-term thinking in tax policy, where immediate budgetary needs & ideological wins are prioritised over long-term economic goals for transitioning from an oil-dependent economy. Kahneman's distinction between "Econs" and "Humans" highlights the challenge of designing policies that account for the complex, often irrational human behaviors rather than assuming rational economic actors. This underscores the urgency for a more nuanced approach to economic policy that is informed by a deeper understanding of human behavior. To create a fairer and more effective tax system, it's essential for policymakers to integrate insights from behavioral economics, considering both rational and less rational aspects of human decision-making. I encourage the government to seek input from outside their political sphere (not just the input rounds, but behavioural economists), to show that they seek to understand the situation from all sides. We already have an excit tax, question is not necessarily about if, but about how. Like most of the tax debate really are. Alexander Woxen Svein Willassen Shifter.no Rolf Assev thx Michael Jackson
"If you leave the country having raised money for your startup, you’ll now have to pay an exit tax of >30% of your startup’s valuation - even if you never got a dollar out of the startup personally!" 😳 Always awkward to see places in Europe think they can create vibrant startup ecosystems by instituting absurd anti entrepreneurial friction points. 🤦🏻♂️ Norway, this is dumb. I know you're not the only country in Europe that has done this, but that doesn't make it smart or right. Honestly, the fact that Germany does something similar should be evidence enough that it's not a good policy for startups. Fix it. Good on Alex Svanevik for calling it out! 👍🏻 🇳🇴 ❄️ 🏔 https://lnkd.in/eR7RJhME #vc #venturecapital #startups #entrepreneurs #entrepreneurship #tech #technology #innovation #future #money #business
We also just need to simplify. We have layer upon layer of taxes now. Time to start with a blank sheet, but that is unlikely to happen because any lobby group or authority involved in shaping policy is run by people from the very system that a simplified tax regime would undermine - accountants, consultants, auditors and compliance. Through self interest of those who support the system, the system becomes ever more complex . And costs ever more to administer and run.
Incredibly important points 👏 in general, there’s no quality check of their skills; I wouldn’t hire them to do UX as they lack the skills for it example as they do not systematically collect the needs of society. If we wouldn’t hire them to do the job, why would they do the job?
Yeah this isn't great :/ I'm all for a fair tax system and wealth distribution but inheritance tax would make so much more sense for that than this. Talk about adding barriers to innovation :(
Johans kommentar om at det er et spørsmål om hvordan, like mye som om og når en exit-skatt bør pålegges og betales, er et godt utgangspunkt. Hvordan ønsker man helt konkret dette bør løses? Vi ønsker ikke et skattesystem hvor det er lettere å arve enn å skape verdier, og vi ønsker at bedrifter som starter i Norge skal kunne vokse seg store. Vi ønsker at verdier som skapes skal skattlegges. Alle er enige om at selskap ofte er urealistisk høyt priset like etter at man har fått inn finansiering. Det første trinnet bør være at man blir enige om at man må finne fram til en realistisk vurdering av selskapet, slik at man ikke setter inn fiktive og oppblåste verdier i egen selvangivelse. Deretter må man finne ut hva ligningsverdien skal være i prosent av markedsverdien. Til sist bør man vurdere om man skal ha en slags skattefunn-ordning for grundere som rammes av Exit-skatt. Regelverket må være tydelig nok til at ikke for eksempel en laksearving eller noen med gamle penger oppretter et nytt AS hvert femte år og kaller seg grundere bare for å unngå skatt. Det blir fort parodisk og et angrep på skattemoralen hvis Hydro, Freia eller Aker Kværner kan regnes som oppstartsselskaper etter årtier og etterhvert århundrer med drift.
David Battye, of interest?
I build ecosystems to drive impact, connect people to catalyze partnerships & innovate to bring positive change. #SaudiArabia, #RCRC, #YGL, #WEF
1moMy Nordic Friend who has built a startup in Silicon Valley and raised capital there speaks of a similar situation if they want to move back to the Nordics. Massive exit tax so they are stuck. Do you know anything about this?