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Congrats you are earning a lot. You should be grateful to be in such a privileged position few can dream of.
by rorykoehler 5y ago
Congrats you are earning a lot. You should be grateful to be in such a privileged position few can dream of.
- yunohn 5y agoNot really, I wish I were. Here’s the NL tax brackets: * € 0 - 68.508 37,10% * € 68.508+ 49,50%
- rorykoehler 5y agoThere is no tax free allowance in NL? Do you pay extra for healthcare or is it paid for out of that amount?
- yunohn 5y agoHealthcare is paid from post-tax income. As a single person, I pay approx. €150 monthly. There is also a deductible of €385-885, and choosing a lower amount means you pay more per month too. There is no tax free allowance. There is general/labor tax credit, but it’s incredibly minimal and reduces with income: * €2.837 for those with a taxable income under €21.043 * €2.837 - 5,977% x (taxable income - €21.043) for people with an income between €21.043 to €68.507 * €0 for people with an income over €68.507
- rorykoehler 5y agoTIL. I thought absurdly high tax rates were a nordic specialty. NL seems very wealthy whenever I visit. Are median incomes substantially higher than surrounding countries?
- yunohn 5y agoThe Netherlands is a tax haven for corporations. Individuals bear the brunt of ensuring a high QoL. Median income in 2021 is €36.500, so quite low tbh. The only kind of income you can avoid taxes on is capital gains - i.e. investing in stocks or real estate. Obviously this is not feasible for the general population, and as such, most people spend their entire monthly income on rent/mortgage, kids, and living expenses. There is no concept of saving, because the assumption is that you can accumulate enough pension to live off of.
- rorykoehler 5y agoI have known many Dutch people over the years who have gotten a lot of benefits from the state from unemployment to housing. Some of it clearly fraudulently too. Seems to be unsustainable.
- yunohn 5y agoWhile I do not condone benefits fraud, it’s just a drop in the pond. Government projects are quite corrupt, and often go way over budget. Of course, this is a global problem as well. The main problem is corporate tax evasion. Pretty much every multinational funnels money via NL, while paying almost nothing. For example - IKEA, Walt Disney, FAANG, Uber, and innumerable more are all Dutch BVs for most global activities.
- rorykoehler 5y agoSorry I agree with you. I didn't mean fraud was a big cost, only that social spending (including non-fraudulent) seems to be very high and not tightly controlled (which as a side effect allows for easy fraud). From the outside society seems very stratified. Plenty of Telsa's in Amsterdam and people with expensive tastes. NL is obviously a very wealthy place even compared to neighbouring countries but also has a large less wealthy population. This is another angle to the problem (in addition to the corp tax regime) because it unfairly puts the tax burden on people like yourself.
- yunohn 5y agoSocial spending is quite high, but I’d like to believe that atleast it’s enriching the average person and not only corporate execs. The reason there’s so many Teslas is because up until 2021, you could get significant tax benefits, if you purchased an electric car via your employer for “work”. If you look past Teslas, you’ll see that most people own average family cars. Amsterdam does have people with “expensive tastes”, but that’s not representative of the rest of the country. It’s similar to what you’d see in New York or London vs. the rest of their respective countries. Most of the wealthy people I know own businesses (and as such benefit from the lower taxes), or own lots of rentable real estate.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago€150/month for healthcare? Ya, that could work lost tax. Switzerland also pays for health insurance premiums post tax, but they are nowhere that cheap.
- yunohn 5y agoHow much would you pay as a single person? And what does it cover? If you have a family, premiums increase significantly. In NL, €150 doesn’t cover emergency care, dental, eyes, or various specialists. Medicines and treatments are also part of the deductible.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago400 CHF/month. If it doesn’t cover emergency care, then what good is it? You can’t really call it health insurance.
- yunohn 5y agoWow, 400 CHF is a lot! NL does guarantee emergency treatment will be provided, and the excess above the deductible will be paid by the insurer. Aside, I’ve had friends who moved and found that Swiss income taxes are also much lower than NL in most cantons. Is that true in your case too?
- seanmcdirmid 5y agoI haven’t lived in Switzerland for awhile but ya, their taxes are somewhat low, though I think their VAT must be high (hard to tell if it’s taxes or just a high COL). As an American, it gets harder to live in Switzerland because of the lower tax rate and high COL once you break through the foreign earned income exemption.
- jbverschoor 5y agoWe pay for healthcare. There is a free allowance for "foreign skilled workers". They pay 0 income tax over the first 30% of their income. It's total and utter bs. So if you earn 90K, you get 30K net, and get taxed as if you earned 60k
- insert_coin 5y agoSociety should be grateful he/she is so productive as to deserve it.