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When I lived in Vietnam I paid more in VAT alone than 50% of a typical Vietnamese college graduate's income. It would be totally ridiculous to say I was moochin
by aianus 12y ago
When I lived in Vietnam I paid more in VAT alone than 50% of a typical Vietnamese college graduate's income. It would be totally ridiculous to say I was mooching off the taxpayers of Vietnam.
- Luc 12y agoStronger shoulders carry larger burdens, and all that. In the Netherlands, for example, >50% of income tax is received from the 10% highest earners. So it's not unreasonable to expect a high earner to contribute accordingly. EDIT: Heavy downvoting, but this is how things are in most Western democracies, like it or not.
- riffraff 12y agoYou are not mooching, but you are not being squeezed as much as possible. If you spend $5 a day while earning $5000 a month, it's better to have one person who really loves the country and wants to stay paying income taxes, rather than 100 staying and paying VAT. The typical government member in my experience tends to think in terms of "people will just pay more" rather than "they will go somewhere else". EDIT: Moreover: how should a government discriminate? If you are working for a company in Norway you are probably earning better than someone working for a company in laos. If both of you are residing in vietnam, should I expect the latter to spend more in VAT than 50% of the vietnamese college graduates ?
- aianus 12y ago> The typical government member in my experience tends to think in terms of "people will just pay more" rather than "they will go somewhere else". That's a pretty stupid viewpoint in this context, considering I've already demonstrated my willingness to leave and go somewhere cheaper (Canada -> Vietnam). You'd think they'd rather have something from me than nothing.