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> I am pretty sure there’s the highest top bracket in the world, and it’s super-progressive so you hit it quickly. Not really? The highest bracket is 45%, but

> I am pretty sure there’s the highest top bracket in the world, and it’s super-progressive so you hit it quickly. Not really? The highest bracket is 45%, but it takes an income of 40 million JPY ($350k US) to hit that. The vast majority of Japanese fall into the 23% (up to 9M) or 33% (up to 18M) brackets. There's an extra 10% or so in local taxes, insurance etc, but the total burden is not unreasonably high by European standards and not far off California either.

getoj 5y ago
If you earn 20M yen a year, you're paying 41% of that in income tax, resident tax, and compulsory social security payments.[1] If you earn 200k USD in California, you pay 35.5% of that in total taxes.[2] I suppose the latter doesn't count the ridiculous US health insurance system, but Japan is by no means on the low end of taxation, and it's the highest rate in APAC when you account for social security. [1]https://japantaxcalculator.com/ https://japantaxcalculator.com/ [2]https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator?region=California https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator?region=California
- thewileyone 5y ago
  California has state income tax and county-based sales tax, property tax if you own a home. When I owned a house there, I was paying nearly 45% in just federal and state income taxes, even after deducting the house.
- cjsplat 5y ago
  For California, don't forget to add an extra ~$12k for the employer's match on social security and medicare, so you have an extra 6% on the CA tax balance sheet. I don't know if there is an equivalent employer tax is directly linked to employee pay in Japan. One could argue that this isn't really a tax that the employee pays, but of course it comes directly out of the business under the "cost per employee" bucket.
- dustintrex 5y ago
  If you earn 20M in Japan, you're doing very well. The national average is around 5M, and you would be considered well-off if you can hit 10M. I agree that Japan isn't low tax, particularly if you're a high earner, but for most people the taxation is not as extreme as this thread is making it sound.
numair 5y ago
I think you haven’t added the municipal tax and the Earthquake Reconstruction Tax. And remember, it’s a lot harder to pull the sort of tricks that are possible in the US and EU, and the shared sense of suffering means people get in a lot of trouble if their avoidance scheme goes the wrong way.
aidenn0 5y ago
Historically the top marginal rate in both the US and the UK is more than double the 45% that Japan has (though I'm pretty sure the top tax bracket has never been more than 70% for any income under $1M adjusted for inflation: 1980 $200k @70% which is roughly $700k adjusted for inflation).

getoj 5y ago

If you earn 20M yen a year, you're paying 41% of that in income tax, resident tax, and compulsory social security payments.[1] If you earn 200k USD in California, you pay 35.5% of that in total taxes.[2] I suppose the latter doesn't count the ridiculous US health insurance system, but Japan is by no means on the low end of taxation, and it's the highest rate in APAC when you account for social security. [1]https://japantaxcalculator.com/ https://japantaxcalculator.com/ [2]https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator?region=California https://www.talent.com/tax-calculator?region=California

thewileyone 5y ago
California has state income tax and county-based sales tax, property tax if you own a home. When I owned a house there, I was paying nearly 45% in just federal and state income taxes, even after deducting the house.
cjsplat 5y ago
For California, don't forget to add an extra ~$12k for the employer's match on social security and medicare, so you have an extra 6% on the CA tax balance sheet. I don't know if there is an equivalent employer tax is directly linked to employee pay in Japan. One could argue that this isn't really a tax that the employee pays, but of course it comes directly out of the business under the "cost per employee" bucket.
dustintrex 5y ago
If you earn 20M in Japan, you're doing very well. The national average is around 5M, and you would be considered well-off if you can hit 10M. I agree that Japan isn't low tax, particularly if you're a high earner, but for most people the taxation is not as extreme as this thread is making it sound.

numair 5y ago

I think you haven’t added the municipal tax and the Earthquake Reconstruction Tax. And remember, it’s a lot harder to pull the sort of tricks that are possible in the US and EU, and the shared sense of suffering means people get in a lot of trouble if their avoidance scheme goes the wrong way.

aidenn0 5y ago

Historically the top marginal rate in both the US and the UK is more than double the 45% that Japan has (though I'm pretty sure the top tax bracket has never been more than 70% for any income under $1M adjusted for inflation: 1980 $200k @70% which is roughly $700k adjusted for inflation).