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Certainly, this is very normal. It makes sense to have a high rate of tax on extremely high earners! But in the US the top tax rate kicks in at $539,901 (for a
by CalRobert 4y ago
Certainly, this is very normal. It makes sense to have a high rate of tax on extremely high earners!
But in the US the top tax rate kicks in at $539,901 (for a single person! Higher for married). In Ireland it kicks in at the princely sum of €70,044. We tax people on decent but not incredibly high incomes as though they're on Ferrari money. You might think "well that's Europe for you" but in Germany the highest rate of tax kicks in at €277,826 per year.
And for your taxes you get:
ridiculously expensive childcare (€1000 per month per kid - compared to nothing or a couple hundred a month per kid in other EU countries)
a collapsing HSE (wait times for pediatricians can be a year+ public, and I had to spend hours on the phone to find a private one who'd see my 3 year old in under a month)
(almost all) religious schools that still ask for a "voluntary" contribution
mediocre public transport
US-style car-dependent single use sprawl
horrible cycling infra
incompetent and agonizingly slow public bureaucracies (_especially_ immigration but tbf immigration is horrible most places)
and very high costs of living.
On the bright side, it's one of the better-shielded places from climate breakdown. The weather here is amazing. I grew up in a hot place and never want to be over 40C again.
- roomey 4y agoI'm ok with that tax band at that level. And I imagine the majority of people in Ireland are, as there is no political appetite to tax the wealthiest people less. People in finance and IT can make a ton compared to other folk. If the top tax band was raised to 500,000k or something all that extra money would just go on bigger houses, fancy cars and holidays and shit. A less progressive tax system is bad for society. Eg. I just got a letter saying kids books will be free in primary schools now. Don't get me wrong, there are big problems in Ireland, but taxing well off people less is not gonna fix anything!
- FrontierPsych 4y ago>_especially_ immigration At least that is good, as immigration takes a lot of what little available housing that is available. It's the same in the USA. Housing prices are shooting up on everything and 40 million Mexicans - not counting all the immigrants from other countries - that have moved here. Don't tell me that has zero effect on the housing market here in the USA. Probably more than all other causes combined.