I'm not from US, so these taxes don't affect me. I'm talking about earning 2x-3x national average pay and getting fucked by that here, in a small EU country.

I'm not from US, so these taxes don't affect me. I'm talking about earning 2x-3x national average pay and getting fucked by that here, in a small EU country. 5k(eur) gross monthly here (current gross average is ~1950eur), after taxes and social/medical (they're a "tax" here, divided between worker and employer) gives me 2922eur net, and I cost my employer 5805eur. With VAT (22%) our customers pay 7082eur, for me to get 2922eur, and the government gets 4160eur. That's without any actual cost, my chair, my computer, toilet paper, office rent,...