4 ms·

Denmark Levies world's first fat tax

7 points by fiesycal 15y ago

rick888 15y ago
Is anyone surprised here? Denmark has the highest taxes in the world. It's just one more thing the government wants to control.
- mostermand 15y ago
  Taxes helps the poor at the cost of the rich. Good deal if you ask me
  - 2muchcoffeeman 15y ago
    http://ida.dk/english/comeworkandliveindenmark/livingindenmark/Sider/livingindenmark.aspx http://ida.dk/english/comeworkandliveindenmark/livingindenma... Yeah it does seem like a good deal. If the government can indeed make good on these services, I think that is good.
    - rick888 15y ago
      "If you do not have a tax card, the employer must withhold 60% of your salary for taxes without allowances." Sounds great. Where can I sign up!
  - rick888 15y ago
    Like communism, it sounds good on paper, but not in reality. Huge taxes creates a generation of people that depend on the system to survive. Over time, the system will eventually collapse because there aren't enough people putting money back into the system. It also means the government has more control over you. The more money they take, the less freedom you have over your own money. You are also supporting a government monopoly. I'm surprised that all of the people that are against monopolies like Microsoft are fine with the same thing happening with the government. I also don't see very many startups coming out of Denmark. Why is that? We still need government controls and taxes, just not to the levels of Denmark.
jinushaun 15y ago
May be it's the article's particular spin, but the tax doesn't sound very well thought out. This is just a form of moral legislation similar to prohibition of alcohol and enforcement of religious standards (i.e., blue laws). The article also brings up the fact that this tax will hurt Danish companies because exports will be less exposed to this tax than local products.
fondue 15y ago
I remember when Canada raised their taxes on goods; every weekend there were caravans of Canadians flowing into Duluth to shop at the Sam's Club. edit - This was around 1990. Yeah, I'm old.

7 points by fiesycal 15y ago

Is anyone surprised here? Denmark has the highest taxes in the world. It's just one more thing the government wants to control.

mostermand 15y ago
Taxes helps the poor at the cost of the rich. Good deal if you ask me
- 2muchcoffeeman 15y ago
  http://ida.dk/english/comeworkandliveindenmark/livingindenmark/Sider/livingindenmark.aspx http://ida.dk/english/comeworkandliveindenmark/livingindenma... Yeah it does seem like a good deal. If the government can indeed make good on these services, I think that is good.
  - rick888 15y ago
    "If you do not have a tax card, the employer must withhold 60% of your salary for taxes without allowances." Sounds great. Where can I sign up!
- rick888 15y ago
  Like communism, it sounds good on paper, but not in reality. Huge taxes creates a generation of people that depend on the system to survive. Over time, the system will eventually collapse because there aren't enough people putting money back into the system. It also means the government has more control over you. The more money they take, the less freedom you have over your own money. You are also supporting a government monopoly. I'm surprised that all of the people that are against monopolies like Microsoft are fine with the same thing happening with the government. I also don't see very many startups coming out of Denmark. Why is that? We still need government controls and taxes, just not to the levels of Denmark.

jinushaun 15y ago

May be it's the article's particular spin, but the tax doesn't sound very well thought out. This is just a form of moral legislation similar to prohibition of alcohol and enforcement of religious standards (i.e., blue laws). The article also brings up the fact that this tax will hurt Danish companies because exports will be less exposed to this tax than local products.

fondue 15y ago

I remember when Canada raised their taxes on goods; every weekend there were caravans of Canadians flowing into Duluth to shop at the Sam's Club. edit - This was around 1990. Yeah, I'm old.