Had the same feeling about Australia vs France. In Australia I'd pay $120 for a tax agent (~1% of my income tax), it would be over and I'd be happy about it. In France I feel like I'm being chased, because it's such a socialist country: I earn €2000 per month after tax, I feel like I'm being told by the tax administration that I'm a thieve because I'm rich, even though they're the ones who attempted to double-tax me between Australia and France. I don't mind the 63%[1] that goes to the government between what my customers pay my company and what I receive as a net salary, it's just, they could at least make it respectful and simple.
[1] VAT 20%, employer tax 50%, income tax 14% on the remainder, plus an accountant to understand the law and that makes 63%. Yes, I get I'm supposed to receive benefits from the mandatory insurances, except:
- by design they never apply to the situations I might fall into (unemployment when you're between 2 countries, medical insurance when you travel, retirement going under the poverty levels by the time I'm 60, paraplegic benefit being under 800€ per month for the rest of your life - how are you supposed to live on that?).
- and those taxes don't even succeed at keeping France afloat, because we have a socialist president who's hiring for about $6bn of policemen whose work is just to bust into Muslims' houses. Yeah, unemployment reduced, socialist goal fulfilled. Doesn't sound more social that giving a job to everyone undepending on their race, however.
I'd be ok with 63% retention if it were simple and useful.
