Too Much

During lunch break one day, I was sitting in the back of the classroom checking my e-mail and one of my classmates asked me what the word “formue” meant. She was looking at a website that used that word. That website is a big hit in Norway – one the government set up in the last few years – which shows every Norwegian’s tax return; how much they made, how much they paid in taxes, and how much “formue” they have (assets, including money in the bank).




There are only 4.5 million people in Norway and in the first week the site went live, it got 1.2 million hits. Lots of people were apparently wondering how much their friends, family, neighbors, and ex’s make… and now it’s all right there for the whole world to see. The local newspapers even have a direct link on their homepage websites so the information is just a click away.



One local I talked to thought the reason the government did this was so they can find out who is not paying enough taxes. It’s more likely now that someone would turn in their neighbor if they see something suspicious. If their income doesn’t support their lifestyle, then there is a chance they are getting “black money” somewhere (money received “under the table”), which is obviously illegal.



The jails in Norway are full of people who had little “businesses” on the side and didn’t pay taxes for it. Taxes are a big thing and they take them seriously, since it’s how they support their socialist ways.



I’m not sure the money reported on the tax lists is such an accurate picture of what people really make, however, since it only shows their income after they deduct legitimate expenses, but it’s something to look at, for sure. For a country full of people known to be so closed, I think it’s hysterical that they have all this financial information so open and readily available. The website even makes little bar charts so one can compare the amount they made with others born in the same year, or in their area.



But the funniest thing of all is the word “formue” -- it literally means “too much.” And while I believe the intent was to say, “You have too much, therefore you will be taxed on it,” my take on it is, they have provided “too much” information.