5 ms·

Our (Norwegian) public tax returns show income, fortune/net worth, and taxes paid. But there's a big caveat: The reported figures are net numbers, so the incom

Our (Norwegian) public tax returns show income, fortune/net worth, and taxes paid. But there's a big caveat: The reported figures are net numbers, so the income for example, will include capital gains, and exclude all deductibles. There are lots of deductibles here, so for a salaried worker without any capital investments, the income number will be lower than their actual income, due to deductibles. Likewise, if you have lots of appreciating investments (stock that pays dividends, sale of stock, whatever), your income will be higher than your salaried income. Same for fortune (or net worth). If you have more debt than equity, then your net worth will show up as zero. Basically, if you own a house worth $1MM, and have $1MM in some other debt/loan, your net worth will show up as zero...even though that debt could practically be at zero rate, from a relative, or whatever. So, all in all, it's a neat concept that was (AFAIK) designed for more transparency, as well as lowering financial crime (i.e, why is your neighbor driving a lambo, if he's on gov. benefits?) - but it's not optimal for things like checking salaries. Lots of people are very interested in salaries, in order to have some number when negotiating their own salary. Just one example.

palmy 5y ago
In addition, you will be notified if anyone accesses your records. This defers most sane people from looking up the records of family members, friends and neighbors.
- inglor_cz 5y ago
  I would expect some nosy person to access everyone's records, store them and then either charge others for looking at them secretly, or pranking the country by releasing them into the wild.
  - TrackerFF 5y ago
    Yes, right after the change (back in the day, you could view anyone without them getting notified, or being able to see who'd been checking them out), a small cottage industry of "snoopers" popped up. They charged something like $1 - $3.5 pr. query. But that seemed to have died out a bit now. I think most people simply don't care enough to check out other people, while risking to come off as a snooper.

palmy 5y ago

In addition, you will be notified if anyone accesses your records. This defers most sane people from looking up the records of family members, friends and neighbors.

inglor_cz 5y ago
I would expect some nosy person to access everyone's records, store them and then either charge others for looking at them secretly, or pranking the country by releasing them into the wild.
- TrackerFF 5y ago
  Yes, right after the change (back in the day, you could view anyone without them getting notified, or being able to see who'd been checking them out), a small cottage industry of "snoopers" popped up. They charged something like $1 - $3.5 pr. query. But that seemed to have died out a bit now. I think most people simply don't care enough to check out other people, while risking to come off as a snooper.