3 ms·
I'm torn on this issue. On the one hand, in Sweden, taxes are extremely simple to file, and I love it for practical reasons. All work income (even from multiple
by filleokus 8y ago
I'm torn on this issue. On the one hand, in Sweden, taxes are extremely simple to file, and I love it for practical reasons. All work income (even from multiple part time jobs which someone said would be an issue) is declared by the employer, almost all saving/stocks/bonds/other stuff resulting in financial gains are reported by the broker/bank. I think many people don't change any of the data, almost 1 million (out of a 10 million population) just send a text message saying basically "Okay!" [0].
On the other hand, this also irks me in some way. It is good that it's so simple to file it, but at least when just texting an okay it probably hides just how much people pay in taxes. It's almost the same thing as the fact that most employers in Sweden just show the taxes they withheld from the salary, i.e not the significant payroll taxes the company had to pay (which could just as easily have been shown for/"payed" by the employee).
Regardless of ones opinion on how high taxes should be, and wether one believe they get good value for their money, I think everyone ought to know roughly how much they pay. I guess this is the reason why Grover Norquist of the Norquist pledge [1] tries to stop measures like this [2].
I imagine, if there was interest, it could be done in a way that actually _raises_ the awareness of how much tax is payed/withheld from people's income.
[0]: https://www.skatteverket.se/omoss/press/pressmeddelanden/2017/2017/rekordmangadeklareradedigitalt.5.5c281c7015abecc2e202d8ab.html https://www.skatteverket.se/omoss/press/pressmeddelanden/201...
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist#Taxpayer_Protection_Pledge https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Norquist#Taxpayer_Prote...
[2]: https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=521132960 https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?stor...
- masklinn 8y ago> I think everyone ought to know roughly how much they pay. Why do you care? More importantly, why do you want to force people if they don't give a flying fuck? > I guess this is the reason why Grover Norquist of the Norquist pledge [1] tries to stop measures like this [2]. Grover Norquist tries to stop measures like this because he absolutely hates the very concept of taxation and has made it his life's work to make taxes as painful as possible so others will as well. There is nothing benevolent to Grover Norquist, the man is an intellectual terrorist trying to make countries fail entirely.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- vernie 8y agoYou're bound to have issues if your parents decided to name you Grover.
- ProblemFactory 8y ago> It is good that it's so simple to file it, but at least when just texting an okay it probably hides just how much people pay in taxes. There are much better ways to make taxes understandable to people than making it complicated to file them. For example, UK tax office sends everyone a letter with their total tax contribution and a breakdown on how it is used for different government services: https://i.imgur.com/a1MIiPC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/a1MIiPC.jpg