Isn't it true that most of Europe has zip tax on investment income? Is that restricted to just savings accounts? I know their rate of saving is huge compared to the US.
Currently France is the most tax-painful country worlwide. Belgium is a close second. It should be remembered that what is considered a tax in some countries is not in others, this completely biases the figures. OHLC
Alright Guys from the new world. I live in Germany and i pay 25 % tax on shares. 25 % on futures. Friends of me live in Switzerland and pay no tax at all. In some states like Andorra (i am sure you never heard of that) you pay nothing! greets from the old world
>Isn't it true that most of Europe has zip tax on investment income? Depends if 54.6% qualifies as zip... In France : Pro trader : up to 54.6% Long term speculator : 26.5% Stocks saving account (should be held 6 years, long only, no leverage, no daytrading) 0% Can be higher or lower in the other EU countries. The population saves more, but the yield on these products is state regulated and low. The major difference is about debt. People dont use credit in the same way as in the US. The banks provide better rates, but ask for a lot of guaranties. OHLC
That's right...the numbers I posted refer to the Marginal income tax rates. A country like Holland, which I feel has an overly high marginal rate, has the benefit of also having no capital gains tax. Here's another country that's been doing well lately. Ireland. Ireland's highest personal marginal rate has fallen from 58% in '90 to 42% in 2000. Ireland's highest corporate rate has fallen from 38% in '96 to 16% in 2000. During that time Ireland has skyrocketed up the World Economic Freedom ratings from about 50th to number 7 (in 2000). (top 10: Hong Kong, Singapore, USA, UK, New Zealand, Switzerland, Ireland, Austria, Canada, Holland) Notice the strong corrolation between economic freedom and stanards of living.
agree with most of what you said... We should spend the next 10 years downsizing the freaking government. Just let us keep our money and take care of our own familes. THe problem is there's still an expectation in too many people's heads that the government needs to be 'out there', 'doing something'...that the government is responsible for in some way improving there lives by 'doing something about it'. By far the best the government could do is to back the fuck off. But how the hell does a politician campaign on that basis? His lefty opponent will take him down with his fat resume showing how he has been 'working to improve society'.. We should bring the military home, cut their budget in half and give them the sole job of protecting the borders of the continental US. We can take the savings and send every kid in the country to college for free. disagree. the post arguing against this would be WAY too long.. We should immediately halt all immigration into the US. There's too damn many people here already. too many people? by who's count, yours? In what way is there "too many" people? Too many people where you wanna live maybe, the same can hardly be said of the rest of the country. Fact is, qualified immigrants (like me!) ADD to the prosperity of the nation, not detract from it. We should search out all illegal immigrants and send them packing. is that what the Libertarian Party line is these days? There must be more (OK, there is). We should stop this ridiculous War on Drugs. How is it anyone's business if the neighbor is firing up the bong in his basement. At least he won't be beating his wife and kids. And he'll be ordering a lot of pizzas. Again, good for the economy!! yeah, it's fuckin ridiculous. of course mr chest-beating politician likes to be able to come out and say to mr concerned citizen that he is not going to tolerate drugs being sold in his community.. We should regulate drugs and, of course, tax the hell out of them (again, a consumption-based tax). This will get rid of about half of our crime and take care of the prison crowding problem. Cops can get back to their actual jobs which is putting violent offenders away forever. good point on taxing the drugs! i like the point of putting violent offenders away FOREVER! lol, like that's gonna happen. still, penalties could sure do with being WAY, WAY harsher.. the "civil rights" attitude to crime (poor murderer....his parents didn't raise him right...or, it's a racism thing...or, society is to blame...) has NOT WORKED AT ALL. going to prison isn't even regarded as deterrant by crims anymore...(trust me, i've known dozens of former jailbirds..) that rehab and parole crap is worst deal society has ever gotten...what do people think? that mr violent criminal is sitting in his cell feeling bad about what he done? making vows to improve himself and be a productive member of society? Bullshit! it's a fuckin joke...you should hear how these guys talk about prison...nothing at all to do with being rehabbed..
>Notice the strong corrolation between economic freedom and stanards of living.< Exactly. Although economic freedom is not only about taxes (for example some 'special interest groups' in Russia are about as detrimental as oppressive taxes). By the way, can anyone name a country with a decent GDP (the same as Germany), a veto right at the UN, the best health system in the world and whose citizens live with an average salary of about 1400$/mo net before taxes that is mostly spend on products bearing a 20% sales tax ?? OHLC
too many people? by who's count, yours? In what way is there "too many" people? Europe faces (just like Japan) a huge problem. Low birth rate. U.S. is relatively OK because it still is able to replace the dead. Not enough food? Not enough energy? They have been saying that for 150 years at least.
yeah? even western "europe" with its 12 little Ali and Ahmeds per family? seriously, you're right...W.Europe is expected to start declining in population from about 2025 to 2050 from 400Mil to 350Mil. during the same time, USA is expected to RISE to between 400Mil and 550Mil by 2050.
The excellent book on subjects of taxes, bureaucracy (= government) is"The Sovereign Individual". It doesn't mean I agree with everything they say but basic premise is correct IMO.It all comes down to government's ability to control money.By their reasoning, in the future, it should be more and more difficult for bureaucrats to extract money from people for various reasons. P.S. Can anybody suggest a book(material) on subject of private money? (excl. Friedrich Hayek)??