4 ms·

I agree with what you are saying, but my effective tax rate this year in California was ~40%. All of the above benefits for an additional 20% sounds like a barg

I agree with what you are saying, but my effective tax rate this year in California was ~40%. All of the above benefits for an additional 20% sounds like a bargain.

adventured 12y ago
You wouldn't get all of the above benefits with our government, for the additional 20%. The US has an extremely inefficient government fiscally. You might get properly funded roads; that is if they don't squander it between the time they lie and promise to use it for that and when it comes time to do road repair.
- mortehu 12y ago
  > The US has an extremely inefficient government fiscally. I saw this old blog post recently, supporting your assertion: https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-rail-construction-costs/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-r... Basically, underground rail construction in US costs much more per kilometer than in other countries, and people in the comment section claim that the same holds true for other types of infrastructure construction, like bridges and highways.
Cass 12y ago
I'm in Germany, my tax rate is ~40%, and we do get all those benefits.
- justinv 12y ago
  To everyone commenting about their tax rates, that information is irrelevant without income levels in each area. If Germany's tax rate starts at 40% from 40,000 EUR and California from $200,000; those are not equivalent.
- peteretep 12y ago
  Marginal or total? My marginal tax rate in the UK is 45% but I take home 75% of what I invoice.
schwap 12y ago
I've never felt I got so little for so much tax as when I lived in California.
kristofferR 12y ago
The effective tax rate in Norway is around 45% BTW. The max personal tax rate is 47.2%, but that includes a 8.2% pension contribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates It's hard to directly compare though, since we have really high excise taxes/VAT, especially for things like cars.
- sampo 12y ago
  > The effective tax rate in Norway is around 45% BTW. But I believe your employer pays an amount equal to about 20% of your gross income as pension fund payments. I don't know if USA has similar "hidden" costs which makes direct comparison of grass salary difficult.
  - kristofferR 12y ago
    The maximum payroll tax in Norway is 14.1%. From a quick google it seems like the rates are about the same in the US: "making the total Social Security tax 12.4% of wages and the total Medicare tax 2.9%." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions_Act_tax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions...
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

I agree with what you are saying, but my effective tax rate this year in California was ~40%. All of the above benefits for an additional 20% sounds like a bargain.

adventured 12y ago

You wouldn't get all of the above benefits with our government, for the additional 20%. The US has an extremely inefficient government fiscally. You might get properly funded roads; that is if they don't squander it between the time they lie and promise to use it for that and when it comes time to do road repair.

mortehu 12y ago
> The US has an extremely inefficient government fiscally. I saw this old blog post recently, supporting your assertion: https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-rail-construction-costs/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/us-r... Basically, underground rail construction in US costs much more per kilometer than in other countries, and people in the comment section claim that the same holds true for other types of infrastructure construction, like bridges and highways.

Cass 12y ago

I'm in Germany, my tax rate is ~40%, and we do get all those benefits.

justinv 12y ago
To everyone commenting about their tax rates, that information is irrelevant without income levels in each area. If Germany's tax rate starts at 40% from 40,000 EUR and California from $200,000; those are not equivalent.
peteretep 12y ago
Marginal or total? My marginal tax rate in the UK is 45% but I take home 75% of what I invoice.

schwap 12y ago

I've never felt I got so little for so much tax as when I lived in California.

kristofferR 12y ago

The effective tax rate in Norway is around 45% BTW. The max personal tax rate is 47.2%, but that includes a 8.2% pension contribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_tax_rates It's hard to directly compare though, since we have really high excise taxes/VAT, especially for things like cars.

sampo 12y ago
> The effective tax rate in Norway is around 45% BTW. But I believe your employer pays an amount equal to about 20% of your gross income as pension fund payments. I don't know if USA has similar "hidden" costs which makes direct comparison of grass salary difficult.
- kristofferR 12y ago
  The maximum payroll tax in Norway is 14.1%. From a quick google it seems like the rates are about the same in the US: "making the total Social Security tax 12.4% of wages and the total Medicare tax 2.9%." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions_Act_tax http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Insurance_Contributions...
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]