Effective tax rates (graphic)

[SMR 368]

Russia went from one extreme fail to another.

This chart is a little disingenuous though, as most countries start significantly taxing people after ~$200K. They also have substantial federal GST/VAT on all good and services sold.

Say what you want about Russia. The economy there is growing over 4% per year. And interest rates are above 7%.

As far as the chart being disingenuous, I don't see higher taxes on higher income being an issue. This chart was just never intended to show the distribution of taxes among different income groups. It seems that this chart is just showing the percentage of total income that is collected as income taxes. However, at least for most of these countries it is only showing individual income.

As far as GST/VAT you have a point. Also, corporate tax rates vary in these countries. It's not really fair to compare individual tax rates with out taking those into consideration since a country with a high corporate tax rate and significant VAT taxes will naturally be able to have a lower individual income tax rate. Various other taxes need to also be considered including local taxes.

A better measure of an effective tax rate would be to sum the budget of all governments in a country and find out what percentage of the GDP that is.

[SMR 368]

For instance, the US GDP in 2009 is estimated at around $14.2 trillion.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)

The total Federal, State, and Local budgeted spending is estimated at around $6.035 trillion.

http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/

So the total effective US tax rate is about 42%.

[Azzudiin 26]

Just yet another playing with numbers with no real value. Chart is worthless in calculating total tax paid vs income because it only includes 2 categories of taxes. Many countries on this list charge 0% tax on things we pay in the US, such as sales tax, property taxes, state and local income taxes etc etc etc.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

So the graph is for people making 100k/yr. What is the percentage that makes that much in each country?

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

Thats a pretty chart and all but wheres the state and local taxes?

[luckytxn 2,265]

Even if the income tax is less and the employer tax is more then wouldn't that be still a tax on the individual. An individual has earned so much by working. The government takes so much from the individual and the company for that person. It is still a tax on that individual. If the government hadn't taxed the business on that individual then the business could have paid more to that person so in effect that one person has lost money altogether.

[SMR 368]

Even if the income tax is less and the employer tax is more then wouldn't that be still a tax on the individual. An individual has earned so much by working. The government takes so much from the individual and the company for that person. It is still a tax on that individual. If the government hadn't taxed the business on that individual then the business could have paid more to that person so in effect that one person has lost money altogether.

This is the core issue. There is no such thing as business taxes. All taxes are born by the people. Businesses pass on their cost to their customer (they have to). Those customers are either businesses, who pass the cost on down the line, consumers who bear the higher prices, the government which passes the cost onto taxpayers in a sort of evil parasitic circle, or foreign customers. Foreign customers seem to be okay, but taxes simply reduce the ability of domestic businesses to compete internationally, reducing the prosperity of America at large.