there's some truth to it. in general, european countries have less progressive tax regimes than the US, both directly through income tax (the middle class in pa

there's some truth to it. in general, european countries have less progressive tax regimes than the US, both directly through income tax (the middle class in particular pays a lot less in the US) and stuff like high VAT, which is very regressive. the average tax burden is similar, but the distribution is very different. people with high income are taxed aggressively in the US, although there are lots of ways for wealthy people to avoid taxes on capital. it's hard to compare apples-to-apples though because the middle and lower classes in europe receive much better public services.