3 ms·

If you "walk the beaten path" of life - get an education, have a family, work as an employee of some big company or government (or a university like Tom), etc.

If you "walk the beaten path" of life - get an education, have a family, work as an employee of some big company or government (or a university like Tom), etc. - then the Swedish tax system is nothing to complain about, really. You get more or less your money's worth. But IMHO it does limit your freedom, in the sense that you have to pay for those on that path no matter what life choices you make.

wsc981 10y ago
I agree. I am from The Netherlands and as a freelancer I am quite sure I pay more than 50% in taxes, when including VAT from goods bought in a store, property taxes, etc... And I also know I have less choices, less financial freedom. Last year I had to pay over 30.000 EUR income tax. Money that I believe I could spent much better. A big problem in The Netherlands (and perhaps the same is true for Sweden) as that if you're single, you live alone, don't have kids, then a huge tax burden is put upon you. And you miss out on a lot of benefits (if you have kids, every 3 months the government sends you some money; if you have a wife, you are able to add both incomes and divide by 2 which will usually allow the highest earner to enter a lower income tax bracket, etc...). And then there is the fact that I believe my government is spending a huge amount of money in the wrong way. But with regards to voting, I seem to be in a minority. I can't change the system with my votes. I will be looking to emigrate from Europe and to pay tax in another country. A country with a much lower maximum income tax bracket (37% above ~115.000 EUR). This compared to 52% when earning above ~67.000 EUR in The Netherlands.
- mbroncano 10y ago
  Sorry to rain in your parade, but I paid taxes in both NL and US (for the same job and status) and once you consider the extra burden in the US (health care, personal transport, insurance, property taxes if you own a house ...) it amounts to pretty much the same thing, probably less. And obviously without any public service to justify it.
  - wsc981 10y ago
    I ain't going to the US. I will emigrate to a developing country but with good public healthcare. Everything (electricity, public transportation, housing, food) will be a lot cheaper as well. So both lower taxes as well as lower costs of living.
    - skuzye 10y ago
      Don't forget to factor that in lots of developing countries your salary will probably be a lot less too. Edit: I feel like I should expand here. I live in São Paulo, Brazil. Rent is through the roof if you want to get two work in less than 1 hour. The goods are very expensive, everything is taxed 100% when imported, plus there are a lot of taxes added to the local products price. I have a good salary for the place and even so, if my wife wasn't working we wouldn't be able to afford our two bedroom apartment within a 30 minute commute to the city center.
      - wsc981 10y ago
        Yep, but I aim to get a well-paying remote job, hopefully through Toptal. Currently I am preparing for the interview with Codility.
  - refurb 10y ago
    I haven't found that to be true at all. I live in Canada for a while, then moved to the US. Even paying for property taxes, health care, college, I had a lot more money in my pocket. I would say my tax rate was almost 1/2 of what it was in Canada (obviously I took advantage of a lot of tax deductions in the US).
- mcv 10y ago
  I'm a Dutch freelancer too, but my experience is very different. As a ZZPer I get a lot of tax cuts. The new DBA law does make it harder, and I may need to start paying the same taxes and premiums everybody else does, which might cost me 30% of my net income. Quite a bit, but that also emphasizes the sweet deal I got so far. The VAT just means I can deduct way more VAT than normal salaried employees. I do have a wife an kids, but the money I get for the kids isn't that much in comparison to my income, and I assure you that kids are far more expensive than that. My wife's income is slightly higher than mine, so that has no impact on the tax bracket I end up in. Netherland isn't perfect (I'd really like to see a left-wing government here for a change; we'd been having right-wing or centrist governments for decades, and the current trend is even more right-wing as well as xenophobic), but I'm not sure where I'd want to emigrate. Sweden is among the top contenders, though.

wsc981 10y ago

I agree. I am from The Netherlands and as a freelancer I am quite sure I pay more than 50% in taxes, when including VAT from goods bought in a store, property taxes, etc... And I also know I have less choices, less financial freedom. Last year I had to pay over 30.000 EUR income tax. Money that I believe I could spent much better. A big problem in The Netherlands (and perhaps the same is true for Sweden) as that if you're single, you live alone, don't have kids, then a huge tax burden is put upon you. And you miss out on a lot of benefits (if you have kids, every 3 months the government sends you some money; if you have a wife, you are able to add both incomes and divide by 2 which will usually allow the highest earner to enter a lower income tax bracket, etc...). And then there is the fact that I believe my government is spending a huge amount of money in the wrong way. But with regards to voting, I seem to be in a minority. I can't change the system with my votes. I will be looking to emigrate from Europe and to pay tax in another country. A country with a much lower maximum income tax bracket (37% above ~115.000 EUR). This compared to 52% when earning above ~67.000 EUR in The Netherlands.

mbroncano 10y ago
Sorry to rain in your parade, but I paid taxes in both NL and US (for the same job and status) and once you consider the extra burden in the US (health care, personal transport, insurance, property taxes if you own a house ...) it amounts to pretty much the same thing, probably less. And obviously without any public service to justify it.
- wsc981 10y ago
  I ain't going to the US. I will emigrate to a developing country but with good public healthcare. Everything (electricity, public transportation, housing, food) will be a lot cheaper as well. So both lower taxes as well as lower costs of living.
  - skuzye 10y ago
    Don't forget to factor that in lots of developing countries your salary will probably be a lot less too. Edit: I feel like I should expand here. I live in São Paulo, Brazil. Rent is through the roof if you want to get two work in less than 1 hour. The goods are very expensive, everything is taxed 100% when imported, plus there are a lot of taxes added to the local products price. I have a good salary for the place and even so, if my wife wasn't working we wouldn't be able to afford our two bedroom apartment within a 30 minute commute to the city center.
    - wsc981 10y ago
      Yep, but I aim to get a well-paying remote job, hopefully through Toptal. Currently I am preparing for the interview with Codility.
- refurb 10y ago
  I haven't found that to be true at all. I live in Canada for a while, then moved to the US. Even paying for property taxes, health care, college, I had a lot more money in my pocket. I would say my tax rate was almost 1/2 of what it was in Canada (obviously I took advantage of a lot of tax deductions in the US).
mcv 10y ago
I'm a Dutch freelancer too, but my experience is very different. As a ZZPer I get a lot of tax cuts. The new DBA law does make it harder, and I may need to start paying the same taxes and premiums everybody else does, which might cost me 30% of my net income. Quite a bit, but that also emphasizes the sweet deal I got so far. The VAT just means I can deduct way more VAT than normal salaried employees. I do have a wife an kids, but the money I get for the kids isn't that much in comparison to my income, and I assure you that kids are far more expensive than that. My wife's income is slightly higher than mine, so that has no impact on the tax bracket I end up in. Netherland isn't perfect (I'd really like to see a left-wing government here for a change; we'd been having right-wing or centrist governments for decades, and the current trend is even more right-wing as well as xenophobic), but I'm not sure where I'd want to emigrate. Sweden is among the top contenders, though.