How the fuck you think they pay for healthcare and social programs?
Don’t forget that they’re double dipping since income is often taken out of your earnings before you even get your money then every single purchase is taxed too.
😭
Because fuck the poor and working class.
I thought EU was very progressive since they often have stuff (like healthcare) much better than the US. Is their “progressiveism” a myth? Am I over-estimating how progressive they are? 🤔
Delphia@lemmy.world 3 days ago
IDKWhatUsernametoPutHereLolol@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 days ago
Taxing at point sale is a weird way to do it.
A better way (in my opinion) is by income, the higher, the higher your tax rate.
A VAT is essentially like a “flat tax” rate in the US.
MurrayL@lemmy.world 2 days ago
We do that too.
Not sure about countries in the EU, but in the UK your income is taxed at different rates depending on how much you earn in a year.
alcoholicorn@lemmy.ml 3 days ago
China also uses a VAT. As far as I know it’s generally worse in both fairness and economic impact to income tax, but it’s much easier to administer.
DebatableRaccoon@lemmy.ca 3 days ago
Depends how you look at it. Out of my wage, I lose ~50% after taxes and the healthcare system’s “fair share” and, depending on the country, the health system is so under-funded anyway that there’s a heavy incentive to give in and pay private if you want certain operations or some such done anytime in the foreseeable future.
Barbarian@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
There’s another factor that nobody mentioned: the sales tax in EU countries is different for different products. This allows countries to incentive or disincentivize different classes of products by ramping the sales tax up or down. Higher tax on junk food, cigarettes and/or alcohol, low or nonexistent sales tax for basic ingredients.
Interestingly, France and the Czech republic tax wine and beer respectively like basic food.