IKEA Founder, Long a Tax Refugee, Returns to Sweden After Government Trims Its Take
Yes, high taxes drive people away
Mr Kamprad, who built Ikea from a shop in his garden shed selling watches and Christmas cards, is one of Europe's wealthiest men. He left Sweden in the 1970s in protest at the country's high taxes, setting up residence in Switzerland.
"At that time, the tax regime was very restrictive," Ikea said.
But Sweden's centre-right coalition government has chipped away at the country's generous welfare system during its nearly two terms in office, trimming income taxes and abolishing a wealth tax.
Hide Comments (0)
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post commentsMute this user?
Ban this user?
Un-ban this user?
Nuke this user?
Un-nuke this user?
Flag this comment?
Un-flag this comment?