It's almost impossible to compare any single piece of a tax system in isolation without taking into account the cost of the living, market access and the tax sy

It's almost impossible to compare any single piece of a tax system in isolation without taking into account the cost of the living, market access and the tax system as a whole. It may be better to look at government spending in proportion to the GDP and ignore how the government actually got this money. Even when the government lends money -- that's just money your grandchildren will have to pay back through taxes (with interest). The gov-spending/GDP ratio should be a better indicator of the 'tax' climate. But even that, could be very misleading. If you need a lot of high educated staff, you would prefer a government that spends that money on free high quality class-free education. If you are an oil company, you might actually prefer that money being spend on a war machine.