I’m American. My countrymen are all dumb as a box of rocks, but it’s really not that hard to understand: we will deal with a lot of shit to avoid paying the taxes Europe does. I hate orange man and I’ve voted democrat for the last four elections, but those taxes would flip me in milliseconds.
Six bucks a gallon and we see what an armed country looks like.
You’re absolutely going to see that as oil gets harder and harder to get out of the ground. There’s nothing anyone can do about it, it’s a finite resource we did nothing to avoid over consuming for over a century. The only question is when — 25 years? 50 years?
Just get used to measuring things in kilowatts now, instead of gallons. Save yourself the time.
You mean like the rest of the world?
Just want to chime in that taxes aren’t even really that high in many European countries especially if you aren’t a high earner. High earners get taxed heavily (as they should) but the average person? No. I was paying around 18% as a micro entrepreneur in France and that was up to €188k
In Sweden it’s just the kommun tax up to 630k SEK at the average tax of 32% but you get LOADS for those taxes. After that amount it’s around 52% taxes. Given what we get here (compared to Canada where I’m from) I’m happy to pay these rates
I’ve always had more disposable income here than I did back home. Taxes never seemed to be an issue here. People are highly educated and usually don’t have student debt so they enter the work force in a good vantage point.
I think the whole EU taxes being high is a fear mongering tactic aimed at North Americans. Otherwise why are Europeans not trying to leave here en masse? They love it here (most of them anyway)
I just want to add that it’s not crazy to pay higher taxes if it means you will not go bankrupt if you have a medical emergency and can expect to retire comfortably. What’s crazy is refusing to pay taxes because you think it provides you more “freedom.” Freedom from WHAT?
Yeah I paid high taxes in Canada and got next to nothing for it. Always struggling. And yes we have social healthcare but if you don’t have private health insurance you’re in trouble. Everywhere in Europe I’ve lived I’ve still had enough left over to feel comfortable. Not live large but be happy.
“High earners get taxed heavily, as they should” The difference is where you consider a high earner. Most countries there consider anyone in six figures “high”.
It’s not fear mongering, it’s literally factually quoting your tax rates. The fact that that’s fearful to sane people is a rational reaction. Yall are *insane* for paying those taxes.
For instance, in your example, 630k SEK is … checks notes… 66k USD, after which you pay *more than half your income* in taxes. Lololololol and they call me a fear mongerer. You could just go say that in a crowded room and scare more people than with a handgun.
If you don’t consider those taxes insane, you’ve never been free.
Haha ok keep thinking you’re free in America lol
Also it’s called tiered taxes so the additional 20% only happens AFTER 66k you still get the 66k at the lower tax rate. You don’t think those wages are liveable because they aren’t in America. But they are here. People who live in the major cities even with a higher marginal tax rate are
Earning more but everything else is still more affordable and there is an insanely good social net if anything happens. There’s a reason people aren’t leaving here en masse. Also if you’re self employed or run a business you can structure things to get better tax rates.
How is 32% HALF of my income? Do you know how math helps? If I make 630k SEK I’d pay around 200k SEK in taxes. And for those taxes? I get loads. Including every year 75k SEK and 50k SEK per tax paying adult in the house to put towards house improvements and house cleaning.