When you did that, what numbers did you get?
When you did that, what numbers did you get?
When you did that, what numbers did you get?
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Americans' tax burden is lightest in developed world
- Thread starter TraderZones
- Start date
When you did that, what numbers did you get?
When you did that, what numbers did you get?
When you did that, what numbers did you get?
I wonder if this article accounted for Building Permit Tax, Capital Gains Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Dog Licence Tax, Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes....there's plenty more....heck, there's about 8 of them just for the damn telephone!
There are so many hidden taxes in the US its difficult to count them all. I doubt this article has considered all taxes.
There are so many hidden taxes in the US its difficult to count them all. I doubt this article has considered all taxes.
If one takes a real number (tax revenues) and divides it by an imaginary one (GDP) all kinds of conclusions can be made. Also, the methodology is biased. It will produce a higher ratio for a country with a "free" social service (e.g. health-care, a popular topic now) than for one without it when the tax rates are the same: in a country with a "free" health-care the GDP does not include the cost of insurance premiums you pay (since there is none) while in a country w/o free health-care it does. (so the numerators will be the same but the denominator will be greater if everything else is identical). BTW, not all countries use the same methodology to estimate their GDP. The one US govt uses is not the most conservative one.
Quote from the1:
I wonder if this article accounted for Building Permit Tax, Capital Gains Tax, CDL License Tax, Cigarette Tax, Dog Licence Tax, Fishing License Tax, Food License Tax, Fuel Permit Tax, Gasoline Tax, Hunting License Tax, Inheritance Tax, Liquor Tax, Luxury Taxes....there's plenty more....heck, there's about 8 of them just for the damn telephone!
There are so many hidden taxes in the US its difficult to count them all. I doubt this article has considered all taxes.
And these and other taxes are nonexistent in other countries? I talked to someone in mainland China, and bemoaned our 4 levels of taxes (local, county, state, fed). They said they had FIVE levels in their place.
The article was crystal clear about which taxes were covered.
I lived in one of the countries mentioned. The one thing they are leaving out of the calcualtion is: we pay, and most of them DON'T, gas tax, sales tax, state tax, city tax, capital gains tax, etc . . . Also all of those countries have socialized medicine, family of four in NJ pays $1600/mo for healthcare. Add that into a $75k salary and you get another 25% of your income. This is a cheap and extremely misleading article. I would go so far as to say that we pay the HIGHEST taxes in the world, when you add them up.
p.s. Sorry just saw the previous posts, take mine as a reiteration of those posts and from a pissed off overly taxed to death citizen.
p.s. Sorry just saw the previous posts, take mine as a reiteration of those posts and from a pissed off overly taxed to death citizen.
Quote from TraderZones:
Not exactly what ET folks want to hear...
Americans' tax burden is lightest in developed world
By David J. Lynch, USA TODAY
COMPARING TAX BURDENS
How the USA and some other nations compare in total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP:
2007 2008*
Denmark 48.7% 48.3%
Sweden 48.3% 47.1%
Belgium 43.9% 44.3%
France 43.5% 43.1%
Italy 43.5% 43.2%
Finland 43.0% 42.8%
Austria 42.3% 42.9%
Germany 36.2% 36.4%
United Kingdom 36.1% 35.7%
Canada 33.3% 32.2%
United States 28.3% 26.9%
* = provisional Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
You'd never know it from all the cable news chatter, but Americans bear the lightest tax burden in the developed world.
Total U.S. tax revenues in 2008 equaled 26.9% of gross domestic product, according to provisional figures released Tuesday by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. That figure â which includes local, state and federal taxes, including Social Security â was lower than the 1990 ratio and far below levels across Europe. In Denmark, the total tax take exceeds 48% of the economy. In France, it tops 43%; Germany, 36%.
To those on the right, who see Uncle Sam's comparatively light touch as a key to economic growth, the new numbers show what's at stake as the Obama White House battles the recession with generous doses of public funds. To others, the tax data from the 30-nation organization suggest the U.S. has room to raise taxes to pay for its unprecedented crisis-related borrowing.
"We're not an overtaxed country," says economist Dean Baker of the left-of-center Center for Economic and Policy Research.
Among all OECD members, the lowest 2008 ratios were recorded by South Korea (26.6%) and Turkey (23.5%).
In 2007, the last year for which complete data are available, the U.S. and Japan shared top billing as the least taxed developed countries.
The OECD data provide a sharp contrast to charges by conservatives such as Fox News' Glenn Beck, who says that the Obama administration is taking the country down "the road to socialism."
But Chris Edwards of the libertarian Cato Institute worries that the United States' comparatively low-tax profile â and its prospects for economic growth â are at risk. If government programs, including Social Security and Medicare, aren't trimmed, future tax increases could chill investment, he says. "I worry for the future of this country," Edwards adds.
The global recession has meant lower revenues from taxes on income, property sales and stock gains in most countries. Plus, many OECD countries cut taxes in the past year in hopes of jump-starting growth. Of 26 countries that reported provisional 2008 data to the OECD, 17 saw their tax-to-GDP ratios fall. And further recession-induced declines are expected when data for this year become available.
With trillion-dollar budget deficits forecast for several years and rising entitlement costs as Baby Boomers retire, many analysts say the U.S. tax take will rise.
"It's going to be politically painful. ... But our competitors are, for the most part, taxing themselves at higher rates," says Andrew Reschovsky, a professor of applied economics at the University of Wisconsin.
not for long....
Quote from fkbsuhites:
canada provides free healthcare charging only 5% more?
wtf is palin smoking when she tells them to ditch their system.
Yeah, and I mean who minds it when you're pregnant and there are no beds for you in Canada. All good right? Yeah, Palin's an idiot, bla bla bla..
Zzzzz. Pathetic.
I have more or less organized my financial affairs to be as tax efficient as possible. Paying tax is not something I worry about anymore its not worth the effort and paying tax has not held me back in any way that I am aware of.Quote from nickdes:
What planet are you from? All forms of taxes are too high...It is wealth reallocation at its best. Obama a socialist among other things needs to be shipped back to his Muslim country.
Quote from Tide31:
I lived in one of the countries mentioned. The one thing they are leaving out of the calcualtion is: we pay, and most of them DON'T, gas tax, sales tax, state tax, city tax, capital gains tax, etc . . . Also all of those countries have socialized medicine, family of four in NJ pays $1600/mo for healthcare. Add that into a $75k salary and you get another 25% of your income. This is a cheap and extremely misleading article. I would go so far as to say that we pay the HIGHEST taxes in the world, when you add them up.
p.s. Sorry just saw the previous posts, take mine as a reiteration of those posts and from a pissed off overly taxed to death citizen.
and you think they don't have state tax, city tax? You live on Mercury? It was clear these were PART of the equations used for the analysis. And further, try something called "VAT"...