4 ms·

I'd say your grasp of how taxes work is not great if you think you paid 500EUR for your use of healthcare that month.

jlangenauer 8y ago
It’s not tax, we pay to a “Krankenkasse” (roughly a not-for-Profit health insurer), so we see exactly what it costs. The premium is based on your monthly salary.
- rusticpenn 8y ago
  So, you pay for others when you are young and healthy and reap the benefits when you are plder and more prone to illnesses.
  - Tomte 8y ago
    Yes. That's the "social" in "social market economy".
- barry-cotter 8y ago
  By the same logic the zakat in Saudi Arabia is not a tax because it theoretically goes to a non-state entity. If you’re not free not to pay it it’s a tax. It may be a well designed, special purpose tax that stops people doing stupid things but it’s still a tax.
  - pintxo 8y ago
    There is an important legal distinction between tax and insurance (in Germany). If you pay taxes, the state may do whatever it suits with the money. If they decide once day to no longer maintain the public infrastructure using your taxes but instead increase politicians salaries they are free to do this. If you pay an insurance, on the other hand, you have a legally enforceable right to receive the insurance benefits if you meet the pre-defined criteria for an insurance case.
    - barry-cotter 8y ago
      That one payment is legally a tax and another is not has no bearing on whether it is economically a tax, any more than the culinary distinction between fruits and vegetables bears on the botanical one. Botanically a tomatoe is a fruit. In the kitchen it’s a vegetable.
      - pintxo 8y ago
        Not sure I can follow you here. What’s your definition of a tax?
        barry-cotter 8y ago
        I would define it as an involuntary payment, mandated by government. In German law the insurance contribution may not be a tax because payment of it entitles you to certain services. That doesn’t stop it being an involuntary payment, mandated by the government, a tax by common definition. That doesn’t make the legal definition wrong, but it isn’t really relevant outside a legal context just as a chef won't argue with a botanist that actually a tomatoe or a pumpkin is a vegetable not a fruit. Botanically they’re right but who cares? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax A tax (from the Latin taxo) is a mandatory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon a taxpayer (an individual or other legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund various public expenditures.[1] A failure to pay, along with evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent.
quietbritishjim 8y ago
The parent comment said: > I paid 500€ per month for healthcare You misquoted that as: > 500EUR for your use of healthcare that month (Emphasis mine.) Their original statement was correct (assuming that is what they paid!) and didn't sound like a complaint to me, just a factual correction.
- CloudNetworking 8y ago
  Technically correct, the best kind of correct :-)

It’s not tax, we pay to a “Krankenkasse” (roughly a not-for-Profit health insurer), so we see exactly what it costs. The premium is based on your monthly salary.

rusticpenn 8y ago
So, you pay for others when you are young and healthy and reap the benefits when you are plder and more prone to illnesses.
- Tomte 8y ago
  Yes. That's the "social" in "social market economy".
barry-cotter 8y ago
By the same logic the zakat in Saudi Arabia is not a tax because it theoretically goes to a non-state entity. If you’re not free not to pay it it’s a tax. It may be a well designed, special purpose tax that stops people doing stupid things but it’s still a tax.
- pintxo 8y ago
  There is an important legal distinction between tax and insurance (in Germany). If you pay taxes, the state may do whatever it suits with the money. If they decide once day to no longer maintain the public infrastructure using your taxes but instead increase politicians salaries they are free to do this. If you pay an insurance, on the other hand, you have a legally enforceable right to receive the insurance benefits if you meet the pre-defined criteria for an insurance case.
  - barry-cotter 8y ago
    That one payment is legally a tax and another is not has no bearing on whether it is economically a tax, any more than the culinary distinction between fruits and vegetables bears on the botanical one. Botanically a tomatoe is a fruit. In the kitchen it’s a vegetable.
    - pintxo 8y ago
      Not sure I can follow you here. What’s your definition of a tax?
      - barry-cotter 8y ago
        I would define it as an involuntary payment, mandated by government. In German law the insurance contribution may not be a tax because payment of it entitles you to certain services. That doesn’t stop it being an involuntary payment, mandated by the government, a tax by common definition. That doesn’t make the legal definition wrong, but it isn’t really relevant outside a legal context just as a chef won't argue with a botanist that actually a tomatoe or a pumpkin is a vegetable not a fruit. Botanically they’re right but who cares? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tax A tax (from the Latin taxo) is a mandatory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed upon a taxpayer (an individual or other legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund various public expenditures.[1] A failure to pay, along with evasion of or resistance to taxation, is punishable by law. Taxes consist of direct or indirect taxes and may be paid in money or as its labour equivalent.

quietbritishjim 8y ago

The parent comment said: > I paid 500€ per month for healthcare You misquoted that as: > 500EUR for your use of healthcare that month (Emphasis mine.) Their original statement was correct (assuming that is what they paid!) and didn't sound like a complaint to me, just a factual correction.

CloudNetworking 8y ago
Technically correct, the best kind of correct :-)