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IKEA

Kamprad return ‘part of a rich man trend’

Ikea founder and multi-billionaire Ingvar Kamprad's announcement that he plans to move back to Sweden is part of a long-term trend of rich people heading home following changes to wealth taxes, according to a media report.

Published: 2 July 2013 13:42 CEST
Kamprad return 'part of a rich man trend'

“Sweden is not a high-tax country anymore,” explained Carl Pihlgren, a tax lawyer at Ernst & Young, to the Dagens Industri (DI) daily.

The Local reported last week that 87-year-old Kamprad plans to spend his final years at home on the family farm in Älmhult in Småland in southern Sweden.

Changes to the tax regime, specifically property, wealth and inheritance taxes, introduced by the current government mean that Kamprad will only pay tax on future income.

The billionaire founder of the Ikea flat-pack furniture chain Ikea is currently the fifth richest person in the world and has lived in Switzerland since the 1970s.

Kamprad is not the only wealthy Swede heading home confident that their amassed fortunes won’t be claimed by the state. Dagens Industri (DI) names H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson who has been a Sweden resident since 2009.

SEE ALSO: Get the latest exchange rates and transfer money on The Local’s Currency page

According to Pihlgren, his firm has received an increase in inquiries from wealthy Swedes based overseas who are considering the move, testimony backed up by the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket).

“Tax experts we have spoken to say that it is no longer favourable to have hidden capital overseas,” said Margareta Nysträm at the agency to DI.

“We have no inheritance tax, no wealth taxes, no property tax (replaced by a municipal levy). An increasing number of exiled Swedes are moving home in their old age,” Pihlgren said.

Sweden’s inheritance tax was abolished by the Social Democrat-led government in 2005, while the current centre-right Alliance coalition government jettisoned the wealth tax in 2007 and property taxes in 2008.

Following the abolition of wealth taxes, the tax agency no longer keeps tabs on the assets of Swedes, and thus exact statistics are no longer held on the movements of the wealthy.

The Local/pvs

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WEATHER

Danish Ikea store shelters staff and customers overnight during snowstorm

Heavy snowfall left 31 people looking for a spare cushion at the Aalborg branch of Ikea on Wednesday as they were forced to spend the night at the store.

Published: 2 December 2021 09:11 CET
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021.
A file photo at Ikea in Aalborg, where 31 people stayed overnight during a snowstorm on December 1st 2021. Photo: Henning Bagger/Ritzau Scanpix

Anyone who has found themselves wandering the mazy aisles of an Ikea might be able to empathise with the sense of being lost in the furniture store for a seemingly indefinite time.

Such a feeling was probably more real than usual for six customers and 25 staff members who were forced to spend the night at the furniture giant’s Aalborg branch after being snowed in.

Heavy snow in North Jutland brought traffic to a standstill and halted public transport in parts of the region on Wednesday afternoon, resulting in a snow-in at Ikea.

“This is certainly a new situation for us,” Ikea Aalborg store manager Peter Elmose told local media Nordjyske, which first reported the story.

“It’s certainly not how I thought my day would end when I drove to work this morning,” Elmose added.

The 31 people gathered in the store’s restaurant area and planned to see Christmas television and football to pass the evening, the store’s manager reported to Nordjyske.

“Our kitchen staff have made sure there is hot chocolate, risalamande, pastries, soft drinks, coffee and the odd beer for us in light of the occasion. So we’ll be able to keep warm,” he said.

“We couldn’t just send them outside and lock the door behind them at our 8pm closing time. Absolutely not. So of course they’ll be staying here,” he added.

The temporary guests were given lodging in different departments of the store in view of the Covid-19 situation, Nordjyske writes.

“For us , the most important thing was to take care of each other and that everyone feels safe,” Elmose said.

At least Ikea’s stranded customers and staff had somewhere comfortable to lay their heads.

The same can unlikely be said for around 300 passengers at the city’s airport who had to stay overnight at the terminal.

The airport was forced to stop flights from 2:30pm yesterday amid worsening weather, which also prevented buses from transferring passengers to hotels.

“We have around 300 people in the terminal right now and have been giving out blankets on the assumption they will be staying here tonight,” Aalborg Airport operations manager Kim Bermann told Nordjyske.

READ ALSO: Ikea reopens in Denmark after country’s worst retail month this century

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