In addition, the final chapter compares measures of the distribution of the tax
burden and the progressivity of the tax system in Norway with corresponding measures for the U.S.
The report complements official statistics on income, wealth, and personal taxes by comparing the measures for income, wealth, and taxes used in official statistics with more complete measures for income and wealth. The measurement of income includes the following three income components that are omitted from the income measures used in official statistics: (i) personal owners’ share of retained earnings in private companies; (ii) the value of housing services for homeowner households; and (iii) capital gains on real estate and financial assets (excluding shares in private companies). In addition, we examine the distributional effects of the value of local public services by studying inequality in the distribution of an extended measure of income which includes the value of municipal services. The measurement of wealth includes a measure of real estate wealth
which is based on actual market values (observed in transaction data) instead of estimated values from the personal tax returns.