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A recent 'Pitchfork Economics' podcast explores today's Finnish economy (free college, 5 week vacations, universal health care, taxes no higher than the US ...)

• lurquer 7y ago
  Taxes no higher than US? Are you kidding? Income tax rates are higher than the US. On top of that there is a 20%+ VAT on nearly everything you buy. (Not to mention a 4% to 5% 'transfer' tax on most anything you sell.) Not knocking Finland, but I'd bet the average income earner is paying nearly 45% in taxes. It's been a while since I had any first-hand experience though. I doubt, though, that things have changed that much.
  • eesmith 7y ago
    Spot on! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Finland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_Finland says: > When including all direct and indirect taxes paid (personal income tax, social security payments, VAT, etc.) by an employee with an average income of €3,250 per month the total tax was estimated to be 44,5% in 2015 I wasn't able to find similar numbers for the US at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxation_in_the_United_States . The US numbers would need to include payroll taxes and sales taxes. These numbers vary across the country.