3 ms·

I looked at a job in Portugal an the taxes where less than the UK - this is for a 100,000 euro salary no less.

by walshemj 8y ago

varjag 8y ago
South Europe complaining about high tax is like Americans complaining about expensive petrol.
- icebraining 8y ago
  That's only really true for income taxes; we're in the top 10 for VAT, way above average for gas taxes, high energy taxes, etc. If you look at the net personal average tax rate, we're close to Norway, Luxembourg and France, except when you live with less than €10k/year, every marginal euro taken for taxes hurts quite a bit more.
  - varjag 8y ago
    When one starts to lump unrelated taxes atop of income tax, it's a sure sign it's not that dramatic. VAT in Norway is 25%, petrol yesterday was €1.6/L (and we're a major oil producing nation). A car here is probably 1.8x of same model sold in Portugal, purely due to the taxes. About 35% of my (unremarkable) paycheck effectively goes towards income tax, after all tax breaks are factored in. If you are in top tax bracket, you'd be easily paying 45% effective income tax, with nominal over 50%. Do we get fair return for the money? Most people here seem to think so. Can smaller tax on over smaller base income be felt disproportionately? You have a point there. However Portugal is a first world nation, and this level of civics, infrastructure, education and healthcare does require substantial money for upkeep. There is no good way around this, but hopefully you get a better deal on that due to economies of scale than if you had to provide all that for yourself on your own.
    - icebraining 8y ago
      You seem to be confusing me with someone who wants low taxes. I do not. I just disagree that we already have low taxes, as you implied with your comparison. Norway is an outlier even among rich countries. Having lower taxes than Norway does not mean taxes are low.
ttty 8y ago
Probably you got the calculation wrong. And to get 100k in Portugal you probably need to be CEO of a bank or very close. Teachers get max gross 40k a year.
- walshemj 8y ago
  Senior SEO engineering role I was surprised at how much given it was in Portugal.
munchor 8y ago
If you make 100K euros per year in Portugal you will pay more than 50% in taxes.
- isostatic 8y ago
  59% marginal above 80k, UK at that level is 42%.
geezerjay 8y ago
> this is for a 100,000 euro salary no less. In Portugal the income tax rate for a €100k gross salary is around 50%. Then of course there are other forms of taxation, such as a gas tax of over 100%, a rent tax of around 30% and of course a 23% VAT.

I looked at a job in Portugal an the taxes where less than the UK - this is for a 100,000 euro salary no less.

varjag 8y ago

South Europe complaining about high tax is like Americans complaining about expensive petrol.

icebraining 8y ago
That's only really true for income taxes; we're in the top 10 for VAT, way above average for gas taxes, high energy taxes, etc. If you look at the net personal average tax rate, we're close to Norway, Luxembourg and France, except when you live with less than €10k/year, every marginal euro taken for taxes hurts quite a bit more.
- varjag 8y ago
  When one starts to lump unrelated taxes atop of income tax, it's a sure sign it's not that dramatic. VAT in Norway is 25%, petrol yesterday was €1.6/L (and we're a major oil producing nation). A car here is probably 1.8x of same model sold in Portugal, purely due to the taxes. About 35% of my (unremarkable) paycheck effectively goes towards income tax, after all tax breaks are factored in. If you are in top tax bracket, you'd be easily paying 45% effective income tax, with nominal over 50%. Do we get fair return for the money? Most people here seem to think so. Can smaller tax on over smaller base income be felt disproportionately? You have a point there. However Portugal is a first world nation, and this level of civics, infrastructure, education and healthcare does require substantial money for upkeep. There is no good way around this, but hopefully you get a better deal on that due to economies of scale than if you had to provide all that for yourself on your own.
  - icebraining 8y ago
    You seem to be confusing me with someone who wants low taxes. I do not. I just disagree that we already have low taxes, as you implied with your comparison. Norway is an outlier even among rich countries. Having lower taxes than Norway does not mean taxes are low.

ttty 8y ago

Probably you got the calculation wrong. And to get 100k in Portugal you probably need to be CEO of a bank or very close. Teachers get max gross 40k a year.

walshemj 8y ago
Senior SEO engineering role I was surprised at how much given it was in Portugal.

munchor 8y ago

If you make 100K euros per year in Portugal you will pay more than 50% in taxes.

isostatic 8y ago
59% marginal above 80k, UK at that level is 42%.

geezerjay 8y ago

> this is for a 100,000 euro salary no less. In Portugal the income tax rate for a €100k gross salary is around 50%. Then of course there are other forms of taxation, such as a gas tax of over 100%, a rent tax of around 30% and of course a 23% VAT.