Tax em baby
Tax em baby
(Don’t take this map too seriously, I found it on another social media, not an academic paper).
Nice rates. Do the rich pay them?
Assuming it's true, I love that countries like Norway, Finland, and Baltic states have responses closer to 50%, implying better democratic representation of taxation policies. I see this as less of "wealth inequality" and more of "political inequality".
In Denmark we have something called top tax where everyone over a certain income level are taxed a little over 50% of their income.
Unless, of course, you are a mega-rich corporation, then you pay 4% tax or less because you have the power to take your business elsewhere if you get offended and your 4% tax or less still contributes a pretty significant amount to our country, so no one dares to put pressure on you to contribute what you owe to society. 🫠
So it isn't exactly perfect. Those who are rich enough get to do whatever they want even in a system that is otherwise built to support the collective.
It sometimes pisses me off to know how easily most of our issues could be solved if companies like Mærsk and Novo Nordisk paid one or two percent more in taxes. Not even close to what they actually owe, but just one or two percent more. It could be a fucking game changer for our healthcare and educational system.
I feel like the percentages should be higher in Denmark, but I don't think people think about corporations getting to cheat the system when they are asked this question. They think about the well off civilians among us who already pay over half of their income in taxes and they will probably feel like it would be unfair to have to pay even more. At that point the thought would go to: why the fuck did I even get this degree, took on this responsibility and worked these hours if at the end of the day I have the same money after tax as a school teacher?
I can't speak for all the other Nordic countries, though I suspect similar constellations there.
Tax wealth, not work.
Taxing the wealth would be repeating history and policy mistakes. They already tried since decades ago. They all abolished it because it doesn't work. It's 1) difficult to execute and 2) impossible to calculate.
"If we tax the rich, they just move to another country!1!!1!"
Yea, we will tax them there too. And take half of your hoard when they move. You stole long enough from us...
The rich are rich because they own real physical assets, like the supermarkets, utilities, factories, etc. It is very difficult for them to move these assets with them overseas.
A really good example of this is Roman Abramovich, a Russian oligarch who owned the Chelsea FC. The UK government sanctioned and froze Abramovich's assets due to the Russia-Ukraine war, and Abramovich was forced to give away Chelsea FC.
I hate that argument.
"People who are taking more than they give will leave if we ask them to pay their fair share!"
Fucking grand, get out. Or better yet, pay up. Best case, pay and leave.
Let's all sign international tax agreement so the rich can't flee, and if they do : requisition by the workers. Seems fair to me.
This is a beginning https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/OECD/G20_Inclusive_Framework
Wait, you mean the people that use our resources and don't pay taxes would go away?
Man, that sounds so awful.... What would we do without them.....
As you have no uncovered their main excuse: We are forced to close those jobs and move them over to China/India/anywhere else because we can't maintain the current prices and taxes.
I'm embarrassed my country is as low as 75% here.
Now find a map of wealth inequality and see how well they correlate.
I think Slovakia has the lowest wealth inequality in europe (measured by GINI index) atleast it did in 2020. And 63% here say they want to tax the rich more.
Tax the rich more and put in place a general wealth cap. You can’t have more than say $100,000,000 and that is already a ridiculous sum for anyone person to have. If you are found to be over the limit then anything you own here can be taken to get you under the limit. Land and property can be taken, stocks can be taken, cash directly can be taken.
Also introduce a ban on private jets and yachts, you absolutely need to fly somewhere for a meeting? Join us plebeians on normal flights then, otherwise learn to use zoom and other such tools. A ban on yachts doesn’t mean a ban on all boats, normal smaller boats are fine, cruise ships, cargo ships and tankers are as fine as ever. Just means none of your luxurious mega yachts for you and your rich buddies anymore. Again join us plebeians at the bottom for a change so you understand what it’s like.
If you have $1 billion, you win capitalism. You get a trophy and all your money is taken away so you can start the game over again on a harder difficulty.
The people of Russia, Turkey, and Germany can tell they’ve been swindled by the Oligarchs for far too long!
And spain, don't forget spain.
Yes. And many of them, especially Catalans (wink), have some decent firsthand experience on what the people taking control of the means of production looks like.
That’s still a lot of delusional temporarily embarrassed millionaires…
add me to the list but I am on another continent.
What a fucked up democratic system(s) where such an overwhelming public support doesn't get shit done immediately.
Well, as it turns out, it's "not the worst", but that is no consolation.
"But then the rich/companies will move to another country!" Better have them pay not enough taxes here (and exarcebate the problem) than not having them pay taxes i guess.
That is the corporate-sponsored talking point.
No companies can survive without folk & all of them would move out if they get the chance.
Portugal is accurate but you don't need to be rich to get to these ridiculous levels. I'm talking about direct and indirect taxes.
What’s going in Estonia?
High on tech bro neoliberalism. Literally.
Bad memories from Soviet times and high economic growth.
Probably progress being made such that people are fine with the status quo
To me the issue is caused by how we determine how much tax is paid.
If you're wealthy, you can structure your income in such a way that you are not earning any and therefore don't need to pay tax on that "non-existent" income.
It's also how the multinational companies structure their finances to make little or no profit except in the lowest taxing country around where "all" their "profits" are taxed.
In other words, we need to restructure the tax system globally to measure income and profit differently instead.
With the current crop of Neanderthals in charge, it's unlikely to happen in our lifetime unless something drastically changes. I'm not holding my breath.
The "use assets as collateral to get a loan, and loans aren't taxed as income" thing needs to be patched out. There are probably many other exploits but that one seems like an easier fix.
Ah, I thought these were the top marginal tax rates.