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Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

bloomberg.com

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Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#81

Post by splintercell »

hedgew wrote: post #35

I'm not in Denmark but in a very similar European country. I don't want the high taxes. The current taxes and mandatory payments feel unfair. The generations before us worked during the greatest economic boom in history, were mostly employed in safe and high paying government jobs (still are), bought houses before their values tripled, and are now receiving monthly pension payments that are almost twice what most you…

> In the end, I get around 1.5k euro out of the 7k I cost my company (employers also have to pay additional social and pension payments).

Is your pension program a personal pension program or is it like Social Security taxes like in America?

Also, one of the biggest reason why there is no real right wing in Europe because people who might think that way (low taxes, personal responsibility) all move to America (so should you).

Also check out https://www.reddit.com/r/IWantOut

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#82

Post by mattmanser »

tajen wrote: post #23
atemerev wrote: post #10

In other countries, taxes are complicated (no citation needed). There's income tax, but there are also social security payments, industry-specific taxes, etc. And you have to pay for your own education and healthcare! Danish tax is simple and all inclusive. It is around 50%, which is about the same as in US if all hidden obligatory payments are taken into account. But it is all inclusive: all education and healthcare…

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…

This is very disingenuous, it would be more transparent if you led with the fact you've got a (very) complicated tax situation.

VAT is also not your contribution, it's a client's, you collect it because you can offset it.

So that 63% figure is pure and utter nonsense.

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#83

Post by vidarh »

atemerev wrote: post #10

In other countries, taxes are complicated (no citation needed). There's income tax, but there are also social security payments, industry-specific taxes, etc. And you have to pay for your own education and healthcare! Danish tax is simple and all inclusive. It is around 50%, which is about the same as in US if all hidden obligatory payments are taken into account. But it is all inclusive: all education and healthcare…

> It is around 50%

No, it isn't. The total tax wedge under OECD definitions, which includes employer payroll taxes, the Danish income tax burden is on average around 38%. Excluding employers payroll taxes it's around 36%.

For comparison, the "all in" number for the US is around 31%.

The OECD average is 36%.

The only OECD country that crosses the 50% mark is Belgium, which consistently is one of the highest tax countries in the world.

You can find this data here [1], and while the publisher isn't exactly neutral, the source for all the data is an OECD publication which is also freely available (I don't have the link handy). The OECD report has far more detail

[1] http://taxfoundation.org/article/comparison-tax-burden-labor...

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#84

Post by vidarh »

toomanybeersies wrote: post #74
atemerev wrote: post #10

In other countries, taxes are complicated (no citation needed). There's income tax, but there are also social security payments, industry-specific taxes, etc. And you have to pay for your own education and healthcare! Danish tax is simple and all inclusive. It is around 50%, which is about the same as in US if all hidden obligatory payments are taken into account. But it is all inclusive: all education and healthcare…

I think New Zealand probably has one of the most streamlined tax systems in the world, at least for the average person. GST (essentially sales tax) is levied at 15% on all goods and services except for domestic rent and financial services (and one or two rare exceptions that don't apply to the vast majority of cases). Your income tax rate is figured from a flowchart, it's really simple: https://www.ird.govt.nz/resour…

In Norway, the tax authority will send you a summary telling you what you owe or what they owe, and if you don't have corrections you don't need to do anything.

(all bank accounts in Norway are keyed to a national ID number assigned at birth, and the banks report all interest income and loss (as interest on debt can be subtracted from your taxable income), and your employer(s) reports your income)

There are some exceptions, in cases where you have particularly complex tax matters, but most people don't have to do anything any more.

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#85

Post by cloudjacker »

atemerev wrote: post #10

In other countries, taxes are complicated (no citation needed). There's income tax, but there are also social security payments, industry-specific taxes, etc. And you have to pay for your own education and healthcare! Danish tax is simple and all inclusive. It is around 50%, which is about the same as in US if all hidden obligatory payments are taken into account. But it is all inclusive: all education and healthcare…

Don't forget the 22% VAT on goods and services lol

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#86

Post by _of »

atemerev wrote: post #10

In other countries, taxes are complicated (no citation needed). There's income tax, but there are also social security payments, industry-specific taxes, etc. And you have to pay for your own education and healthcare! Danish tax is simple and all inclusive. It is around 50%, which is about the same as in US if all hidden obligatory payments are taken into account. But it is all inclusive: all education and healthcare…

Having lived a big chunk of my life in both the US and a Scandinavian country, I would say that taxes are a lot more complicated in the US. There is no way you can do your taxes in the US without the help of special computer software (e.g. turbotax) or help from professional accountants.

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#87

Post by scurvy »

ulrikmoe wrote: post #25

This is simply not true. In Denmark we have a welfare and tax scheme that benefits the majority at the expense of the productive few and the poor (Director's law?). I have never met a danish entrepreneur who didn't complain about taxes, never ever... http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/...

DHH would beg to differ with you. He's stated a few times that he's a successful entrepreneur because of the Danish social safety net (and the taxes that pay for it).

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#88

Post by ekianjo »

Retric wrote: post #38
ekianjo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lol healthcare is far from being free in Japan.

100% free sets up perverse incentives. The minimum subsidy is 70% and there are effective price controls. So the actual bill is often higher in the US for those with decent insurance.

Effective price controls? You have probably never heard of the pernicious effects of FPA for new drugs.

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#89

Post by scarlac »

ulrikmoe wrote: post #25

This is simply not true. In Denmark we have a welfare and tax scheme that benefits the majority at the expense of the productive few and the poor (Director's law?). I have never met a danish entrepreneur who didn't complain about taxes, never ever... http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxfoundation.org/files/docs/...

> I have never met a danish entrepreneur who didn't complain about taxes

You should meet me.

Re: Most Danish voters oppose government plans to cut the top rate of income tax

#90

Post by vidarh »

mstade wrote: post #42
hedgew wrote: post #35

I'm not in Denmark but in a very similar European country. I don't want the high taxes. The current taxes and mandatory payments feel unfair. The generations before us worked during the greatest economic boom in history, were mostly employed in safe and high paying government jobs (still are), bought houses before their values tripled, and are now receiving monthly pension payments that are almost twice what most you…

This sounds like Sweden or Norway, and I couldn't agree more.

Sweden is #8 in terms of total tax wedge in the OECD. Norway is the 18th highest and just barely above the OECD average, compared to e.g. US at #25, Belgium at #1, Germany #2.

Sweden is high, but still 6-8 percentage points below Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, France, and about twice that beow Belgium, which is an extreme outlier.

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