The happiest taxes on earth: More people are satisfied in heavily tariffed nations

[marmar]

May 15, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EST

The happiest taxes on earth
Commentary: More people are satisfied in heavily tariffed nations

By Thomas Kostigen, MarketWatch


SANTA MONICA, Calif. (MarketWatch) -- Northern Europeans are the happiest people on the planet, according to a new survey.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says people in Denmark, Finland and the Netherlands are the most content with their lives. The three ranked first, second and third, respectively, in the OECD's rankings of "life satisfaction," or happiness.

There are myriad reasons, of course, for happiness: health, welfare, prosperity, leisure time, strong family, social connections and so on. But there is another common denominator among this group of happy people: taxes.

Northern Europeans pay some of the highest taxes in the world. Danes pay about two-thirds of their income in taxes. Why be so happy about that? It all comes down to what you get in return.

The Encyclopedia of the Nations notes that Denmark was one of the first countries in the world to establish efficient social services with the introduction of relief for the sick, unemployed and aged.

It says social welfare programs include health insurance, health and hospital services, insurance for occupational injuries, unemployment insurance and employment exchange services. There's also old age and disability pensions, rehabilitation and nursing homes, family welfare subsidies, general public welfare and payments for military accidents. Moreover, maternity benefits are payable up to 52 weeks. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-happiest-places-on-earth-are-heavily-taxed

[stray cat]

1. Anyone here ready to submit 75% of their earnings in taxes to help others who make less?

Because if you are broke you will clearly benefit from the change and it will only require potential sacrifice if you bring home a livable income for 40plus hours per week.

[marmar]

2. Sure. I'd benefit too.

n/t

[bemildred]

3. I'm ready to pay 50% of my earnings for free public health care and great public schools.

And fast, effective, and fair government oversight of the economy and labor laws.
Does that count?

[stray cat]

7. Absolutely counts - I probably would as well but its important for people realize it does cost money

I hear people talk about excellent health care plans for only 100 a month or a 5% tax and I don't think either covers a real health care plan that covers everyone. I have a small business and pay 30% in fringe benefits of which the bulk is health care and the lower the income the higher percentage has to get paid on the income. For example benefits for someone who makes 40,000 per year would be 12000 per year and I figure almost 2/3 of that is health care but I may be wrong.

[bemildred]

9. The present corrupt system costs a stunning amount of money.

And it gives very little back. The real problem is that a few very wealthy people are allowed to extract as much as they like for their own benefit, and they corrupt the government to do it. It is true that the cost of what passes for "health care" in this country is extortionate, but that is a symptom and a product of the political corruption, it is not something intrinsic to the nature of health care, and many other countries in the world easily manage to demonstrate that health care can be reasonable and efficient.

[glowing]

5. for the benefits, yes. But those areas tend to be closed arenas.

We have a very large immigration population. We have different levels of education and pay. It would take a while for every American to live on only a 1/3 of their income. But it sounds like most Danes only have to worry about home, transportation, entertainment, and food. Not too shabby.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

12. Not any more

If you saw the comments on yesterday's New York Times article about Norway, all these Americans were saying, "But Norway doesn't have any immigrants."

Then actual Norwegian people came on and said that in fact, Norway does have immigrants, in fact, about 10% of the population. They take a lot of refugees.

[raccoon]

25. Wonder if they would take me? nt

[Lorien]

8. You bet. I've already had my life savings drained by health care costs

at least with the Danish system you get something for your money!

[uberllama42]

13. Sure, I'd pay that much if things here were like the Nordic countries

For free health care and university education (all of them), the lowest violent crime rate on earth (Norway), the least corrupt government in the world (Denmark), and so forth, I wouldn't mind giving up most of my gross income.

[drmeow]

18. I would be more than happy

to pay 75% tax on SOME of my income in a PROGRESSIVE tax system. Admittedly, I don't know the tax structure of most other countries but I don't think even the countries with the highest tax rates tax their citizens at the rate of 75% on 100% their income.

[KitSileya]

19. 75%?? In Northern European countries?

In Norway, as with all other Northern European countries, we have a progressive tax system. I pay 0% on the first NOK80,000 I earn, then graded up to 36%. I pay 36% in taxes because I fall into a high tax bracket (single with no kids, no mortgage, hence no deductions.) I probably pay a certain amount in other taxes as well (sales tax etc) - so, about 5-7%? With the rapid salary increase my profession has had this past year, I might end up in the luxury tax bracket in a few years, unless they raise the levels - but then only the amount I earn above that level is taxed at that rate, everything else is taxed less.

Our unions have also been smart enough to fight for a slightly different taxation scheme, so we don't pay the exact same amount of taxes on each pay check. In december, we only pay half the tax we usually do (the other half is then drawn from all the other pay checks in the year) because we recognize that people need more money for the holidays. And for vacations as well, so we get about 1 1/2 pay check in June (12% of our pay paid in June while we get 8% of our pay other months) It works beautifully - but then we also have the right to 4 weeks and 1 day paid vacation time - in most professions they've negotiated 5 weeks.

And you know what? I gladly pay 36%. I'd gladly pay 40% if necessary. Or more. Because you have no idea how good it is to know that I won't be docked pay if I get sick; that a visit to the ER won't financially ruin me; that if I lose my job, I won't end up on the streets; that if a neighbor gets sick, they'll get the treatment they need; if one of my students has trouble with their family, they can get counselling; that if one of my students is good at something, they don't depend on their family's finances to see whether they can afford a higher education.

What a novel concept - I don't mind paying taxes (gasp!)

[LongTomH]

21. KatSileya - I wish I could recommend your reply!

I think our tax rates in the US - for most people in lower / middle income levels would be comparable to yours. That's if we add up state / federal / local income taxes, FICA, sales taxes, etc. The difference is, people in Northern Europe get all these health and retirement benefits for their taxes while our money goes to the Pentagon and now to big business bailouts!

[fasttense]

20. Two thirds is not 75%. It is actually 66.66%.

"The National Bureau of Economic Research has concluded that the combined federal, state, and local government average marginal tax rate for most workers (in the US) to be about 40% of income."

So, since we are paying out 40% anyway, that would only mean a 26.66% increase for free health care, two years paid maternity leave, guaranteed unlimited unemployment insurance benefits, guaranteed one month vacation each year, guaranteed sick leave, free college tuition, free child care for working families, a minimum wage you can actually live on and much, much more for everyone, not just the wealthy.

But of course socialism is bad, very, very bad (for the wealthy).

[Lasher]

22. The northern European middle class is paying no more taxes than we in the US are.

Check out this contribution upthread. Their middle class is paying about 40%, just like we are. The discrepancy is probably due to the regressive tax structure in the US, compared to progressive ones in these countries. So the question becomes, would you approve of such a thing in the US if the wealthy had to pay more taxes?

And in eastern Europe the overall tax rate is about the same as ours. Yet they enjoy many of the same social programs that the northern Europeans do. You see, we just spend our money on different things - notably, as much on our military as the entire rest of the world combined.

[bemildred]

24. The difference is the USA wastes a boatload of money on stupid crap like

the Pentagon, the War on Drugs, subsidies to industries that make boatloads of money anyway, political corruption, and did I mention the Pentagon? The problem is not that we are overtaxed, the problem is that out government is corrupt and wastes most of the tax money we pay.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Yup...

This New York Times article agrees:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&ref=magazine

[xchrom]

6. recommend

[bkkyosemite]

10. And I have a feeling housing, utilities and food is a lot more in keeping with their incomes than

here.

[santamargarita]

11. That's because they don't have Republicans stealing it...

that's the only reason they steal office is to steal money!

[robinlynne]

14. I'm all for taxes and single-payer healthcare, but you just named three very COLD countries.

I mean cold, snowy places where the sun rarely shines.... How can they be that happy there? I'm series. It's freezing. rain, snow, slush, ice. yuck!

[Wilms]

15. .

[BrklynLiberal]

16. There was a great article about an American expat in the Netherlands in last

week's Sunday Times Magazine section.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/magazine/03european-t.html?pagewanted=all
Going Dutch

<snip>

But there’s more to it. First, as in the United States, income tax in the Netherlands is a bendy concept: with a good accountant, you can rack up deductions and exploit loopholes. And while the top income-tax rate in the United States is 35 percent, the numbers are a bit misleading. “People coming from the U.S. to the Netherlands focus on that difference, and on that 52 percent,” said Constanze Woelfle, an American accountant based in the Netherlands whose clients are mostly American expats. “But consider that the Dutch rate includes social security, which in the U.S. is an additional 6.2 percent. Then in the U.S. you have state and local taxes, and much higher real estate taxes. If you were to add all those up, you would get close to the 52 percent.

<snip>

There is another historical base to the Dutch social-welfare system, which curiously has been overlooked by American conservatives in their insistence on seeing such a system as a threat to their values. It is rooted in religion. “These were deeply religious people, who had a real commitment to looking after the poor,” Mak said of his ancestors. “They built orphanages and hospitals. The churches had a system of relief, which eventually was taken over by the state. So Americans should get over ‘socialism.’ This system developed not after Karl Marx, but after Martin Luther and Francis of Assisi.

<snip>

I’ve found that many differences between the American and Dutch systems are more cultural than anything else. The Dutch system has a more old-fashioned, personal feel. Nearly all G.P.’s in the country make house calls to infirm or elderly patients. My G.P., like many others, devotes one hour per day to walk-in visits. But as an American who has been freelance most of his career, I find that the outrageously significant difference between the two systems is the cost. In the United States, for a family of four, I paid about $1,400 a month for a policy that didn’t include dental care and was so filled with co-pays, deductibles and exceptions that I routinely found myself replaying in my mind the Monty Python skit in which the man complains about his insurance claim and the agent says, “In your policy it states quite clearly that no claim you make will be paid.” A similar Dutch policy, by contrast, cost 300 euros a month (about $390), with no co-pays, and included dental coverage; about 90 percent of the cost of my daughter’s braces was covered.

<snip>

[UrbScotty]

17. Dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=103&topic_id=448756&mesg_id=448756

[dmperfect]

23. Living With Taxes Has Benefits - but it is not perfect

Some countries have them, some countries demand them, and some countries have NO taxes, and yet the world seems to be affected by the credit crunch!

So does taxing (for everything) really make much of a difference?

I live in the Uk, so believe me, we know about taxes. Our taxes have been bailing out some of the biggest banks in the world with money collected to benefit the people of the country, so paying taxes for that are un fair. Never the less, if it was not for taxes, we would not have free medical and social care for Everyone.

I have seen what happens in countries without tax, and countries that over-tax the poorer people. It is not a pretty site. If the economy of the country is stable then tax is very beneficial. If wages are high and food is low, then we fear less over high taxes.

Dubai has no taxes. (Great place to live if you are wealthy, but you would not want to be poor)
America has low taxes (but suffers from poor free medical faculties for those that need it most).
Europe is heavily taxed (but has the best free medical care anywhere in the world).

Who is better off? It seems none of us at the moment!

I live with high taxes, so I would be happy to benefit like our fellow americans. However, I am sure I would hate living without the health and social care we receive. I envy no one (at the moment). We are all suffering from bad decisions, whether tax or policies.

Great original post. Thank you for sharing.

Sincerely,
John Adams