>The employer, however, had to pay the salary of 120.000,- to the employee and about 22% of the salary to the state and social insurance. That's just accountin

>The employer, however, had to pay the salary of 120.000,- to the employee and about 22% of the salary to the state and social insurance. That's just accounting fiction. You could as well make it so that the employer pays everything and proclaim there's zero tax. The employee has to make his entire cost (and more). >Apart from that, 120.000,- EUR for a developer in Vienna seems a bit too much. I would expect something between 40.000 - 65.000 on average Well yes, there's no financial reason for someone capable of earning more to be in Austria. Which means there are no companies that could use these people to their full potential. In other words brain drain. Not like high tax is an exclusively Austrian problem. The only country in Europe with sane taxes is Switzerland.