4 ms·
I actually live in such a country. Most (all?) of northern Europe is well functioning that way. It can work.
by bjelkeman-again 11y ago
I actually live in such a country. Most (all?) of northern Europe is well functioning that way. It can work.
- pc86 11y agoWhat's your effective tax rate? I'm being somewhat facetious, but there are several ways to fund local governments, including but not limited to: A. Tax the people directly based on $ASSET (usually income, or property, or a combination of the two). B. Lower direct taxes as well as state and federal grants, and fines from enforcement. As someone who doesn't necessarily mind sending a few dimes on the dollar to the government, and doesn't speed often enough or at such egregious speeds that I'm subject to hyperbolic "highway shakedowns," I kind of prefer B to A because it results in a lower effective tax rate for me.
- bjelkeman-again 11y agoSweden's effective tax rate is 37% on a salary of $100k (2012). UK is about 32%, US about 27% (all read from a graph) [1]. In Sweden this extra tax provides free schooling up to and including university (you even get paid going to higher education US$300+/month in grants), low cost health care with a cost ceiling (US$130/year), affordable child care, social security net, local government owned and (well) managed infrastructure (power, water, fibre, roads, etc.) Our local government is funded through direct taxation. My local government tax rate is 30.2%. Not sure it tells the whole story though. VAT is not included in effective tax rate AFAIK (as defined in the Economist article). [1] http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/10/focus-4 http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2012/10/focus-4