Why higher-income workers in California may get surprised by tax hike in 2024

Post by personomas » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 12:46 PM UTC

dukeyukey wrote: post #15

personomas wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taxes are far higher in Europe than in America. The additional "Social" benefits in my opinion are trivial in comparison with the differences in taxes. Progressive income taxes increase at a far higher rate in Europe. Plus Europe has other forms of taxes: far higher sales taxes (VAT), corporate taxes, and other forms of taxes like buying-property tax (Grunderwerbsteuer).

Worth pointing out that lots of Europe doesn't really have property taxes, something that is common in the US.

Post by resuresu » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 12:59 PM UTC

Reubend wrote: post #3

hnburnsy wrote: post #2

From Bogleheads... >This also effectively increases the maximum marginal tax rate for CA high earners. The maximum marginal rate is now: 37% Federal + 2.35% Medicare + 13.3% CA Income + 1.1% CA SDI = 53.75%

That makes California the state with the highest marginal tax rate. It also puts California very close to the European countries with the highest margin tax rates (for instance, Spain and France have similar rates). My opinion: High tax rates in Europe are the "price" of free (or very cheap) healthcare, cheap university education, and a strong social welfare net. But Californians at the high end are paying almost the…

Post by curiousgibbon » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 1:05 PM UTC

personomas wrote: post #28

meetingthrower wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your perspective depends on your income, obviously. If you are a truly middle class income (say $70K which is median household income in US), the benefits you get are HUGE relative to the taxes you pay. Not to include the insecurity of being one health event away from bankruptcy...

Total disagree. See my comment up above (1). Health care is horrible in the EU. At least in America you can choose to go bankrupt in exchange for quality health care treatment. In the EU, if you ever even get Doctor time, it's always rushed, and very often misdiagnosed. This is coming from an American living in Germany. (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37809938 .

Post by em500 » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 1:30 PM UTC

grecy wrote: post #4

Reubend wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That makes California the state with the highest marginal tax rate. It also puts California very close to the European countries with the highest margin tax rates (for instance, Spain and France have similar rates). My opinion: High tax rates in Europe are the "price" of free (or very cheap) healthcare, cheap university education, and a strong social welfare net. But Californians at the high end are paying almost the…

A decade or so ago I read an article titled something like "If Americans knew what Europeans get for their tax dollars, they (Americans) would riot in the streets". My tin foil hat theory as to why I can't find it is because it was removed in hopes of preventing those riots. It's really insane to see Americans pay the same tax as Europeans (and Canadians, and Australians) but get so, so much less for that money.

Post by addicted » Sun, Oct 08, 2023, 2:16 PM UTC

personomas wrote: post #28

meetingthrower wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your perspective depends on your income, obviously. If you are a truly middle class income (say $70K which is median household income in US), the benefits you get are HUGE relative to the taxes you pay. Not to include the insecurity of being one health event away from bankruptcy...

Total disagree. See my comment up above (1). Health care is horrible in the EU. At least in America you can choose to go bankrupt in exchange for quality health care treatment. In the EU, if you ever even get Doctor time, it's always rushed, and very often misdiagnosed. This is coming from an American living in Germany. (1) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37809938 .