Country rules
Formuesskatt: what the wealth tax does to a FIRE pot
Most tax arrives when something happens: you earn, you sell, you win. Norway's formuesskatt is different. It arrives every year, for the crime of still owning things. For most households it is a rounding error. For a FIRE saver it is a design constraint, because the entire strategy is to own quite a lot of things and then live off them slowly.
The 2026 shape of it
The mechanics are simple. Add up your net wealth: investments, cash, property at its assessed value, minus debt. Subtract the personal deduction, 1.9 million kroner for a single person in 2026, 3.8 million for a couple assessed together. What remains is taxed at 1.0 percent a year, rising to 1.1 percent on net wealth above 21.5 million (43 million for couples). Two softeners matter: listed shares and equity funds are counted at 80 percent of market value, and your own home is assessed far below what it would sell for, with the discount shrinking above a 14 million valuation.
A worked example
Take a single FIRE saver holding 8 million kroner of equity funds and nothing else, no debt, renting. The funds count at 80 percent: 6.4 million. Minus the 1.9 million deduction leaves 4.5 million taxable. At 1.0 percent that is 45,000 kroner, every year, sold gains or not. If your retirement budget is 400,000 a year, the wealth tax just added more than a tenth on top of it. Your pot is not only funding your life; it is funding its own existence.
This is why a napkin FIRE number undershoots in Norway. The pot must cover spending plus its own yearly tax bill, and the tax bill grows with the pot. The two chase each other in a little spiral, which is exactly the kind of maths a projection engine should do for you rather than a napkin.
| Asset | Counted at (2026) |
|---|---|
| Listed shares, equity funds, ASK | 80% of market value |
| Bank deposits, cash | 100% |
| Primary home | A fraction of market value, discount shrinking above 14M |
| IPS pension savings | Exempt entirely |
| Debt | Deducted (proportionally reduced against discounted assets) |
The quiet exemption
One line in that table deserves a spotlight: IPS pension savings are exempt from wealth tax entirely. Money inside the individual pension account simply is not in the base. That makes the IPS the only mainstream way a Norwegian FIRE saver shelters part of the pot from the yearly levy, at the price of the account's age lock. The trade is real and personal, and I walked through it in IPS or ASK, which the plan wants.
Living with it
Three honest observations. First, the couple's doubled deduction, 3.8 million, means a two-person FIRE plan is taxed on far less than a single saver holding the same wealth: splitting wealth matters. Second, rates and thresholds move almost every budget cycle, so any plan should treat them as this year's weather, not climate. Third, the tax exists whether you realise gains or not, so "just never sell" is not a strategy against it. The pot has to be sized for it, which bends the whole Norwegian FIRE number upward a notch even while the pension system bends it down.
Norway is not the only country that taxes a pot
Wealth taxes are rarer than income taxes, but Norway is far from alone, and if you are weighing where to retire the comparison matters more than the headline rate. Four other countries Runway models charge something in this family, and they do it in genuinely different ways.
| Country | What is taxed, and at what rate (2026) | Where it starts |
|---|---|---|
| Norway | Net wealth at 1.0 percent, rising to 1.1 percent at the top band. Listed shares and equity funds are valued at 80 percent of market value. | NOK 1,900,000 single, NOK 3,800,000 for a couple. The top band starts at NOK 21,500,000 |
| Spain | The impuesto sobre el patrimonio on a scale from 0.2 to 3.5 percent across eight bands, with a separate solidarity tax (ITSGF) of 1.7 to 3.5 percent above EUR 3 million. Wealth tax already paid is credited against the solidarity tax. | EUR 700,000, plus a further EUR 300,000 for the main home. Regions vary this heavily |
| Switzerland | An annual tax on worldwide movable net wealth. There is no federal wealth tax at all: the whole levy is cantonal and communal, so your commune decides the rate. A large portfolio in the city of Zurich sits near 0.5 percent effective. | About CHF 80,000 single and CHF 159,000 for a couple in Zurich. Other cantons differ |
| Netherlands | Box 3 does not tax the pot directly. It assumes a return, 6.00 percent on investments for 2026, and taxes that at 36 percent. The result is roughly 2.16 percent a year on the investment portion, whether or not the market cooperated. | Above the yearly allowance, on the investment portion |
| Italy | A 0.2 percent stamp duty (imposta di bollo) on the value of securities and funds, matched by IVAFE at the same 0.2 percent on financial assets held abroad. | Effectively from the first euro of a securities account |
The trap is comparing those percentages directly, because they are not measuring the same thing. Norway's 1.0 percent sounds like five times Italy's 0.2 percent, but Norway discounts your shares to 80 percent of value and does not start until NOK 1.9 million, while Italy's bollo has no meaningful floor and takes its cut of the whole account from the start. The Netherlands does not tax your wealth at all in the strict sense: it taxes a return the government assumes you made, which is the harshest of the five in a bad market and the gentlest in a good one. And Switzerland's answer depends on which commune you move to more than on which country.
For a FIRE plan the difference is not academic. A yearly levy is a permanent drag on the pot that funds the rest of your life, so it raises the number you need before you can stop, in a way a one-off tax never does. See every country Runway models for how each one treats a drawdown. Figures are 2026 estimates, not tax advice.
Runway does this maths for you
Runway computes formuesskatt inside every projection: threshold, valuation discounts, the yearly drag. It shows your freedom age for free.
Download free on the App StoreFrequently asked
What are Norway's wealth tax rates in 2026?
Net wealth above 1.9 million kroner (3.8 million for jointly assessed couples) is taxed at 1.0 percent a year, and the part above 21.5 million (43 million for couples) at 1.1 percent. Listed shares and equity funds count at 80 percent of value; the primary home is assessed well below market with the discount shrinking above 14 million.
How much wealth tax would an 8 million kroner portfolio pay?
For a single person holding 8 million in equity funds and nothing else in 2026: 80 percent valuation gives 6.4 million, minus the 1.9 million deduction leaves 4.5 million taxable, and 1.0 percent of that is 45,000 kroner a year.
Does the ASK account avoid wealth tax?
No. ASK holdings count at the same 80 percent valuation as any listed share. The one mainstream shelter is the IPS pension account, which is exempt from the wealth-tax base entirely but locked until age 62.
Which other countries have a wealth tax?
Among the countries Runway models: Spain charges the impuesto sobre el patrimonio from EUR 700,000 plus a solidarity tax above EUR 3 million; Switzerland levies a cantonal and communal wealth tax with no federal layer, near 0.5 percent effective for a large portfolio in Zurich; the Netherlands taxes a deemed 6 percent return at 36 percent under Box 3, about 2.16 percent a year on investments; and Italy charges a 0.2 percent stamp duty on securities, matched by IVAFE on assets held abroad. Rates are not directly comparable because the bases differ. Figures are 2026 estimates, not tax advice.
Do I pay wealth tax if I never sell anything?
Yes. Formuesskatt is charged on what you own, not on what you sell. That is precisely why a FIRE pot must be sized to carry its own yearly tax bill on top of your spending.
Written by Dylan, maker of Runway
An Italian who moved to Norway, building the cross-border FIRE planner that did not exist for someone like me. Runway runs entirely on your iPhone. It is an educational planning tool, not financial or tax advice.
Size your pot honestly: start with the free FIRE calculator, then let Runway add the wealth-tax drag properly.
Sources worth checking yourself: skatteetaten.no and the yearly rate tables on regjeringen.no. Figures are for income year 2026 and move most years.