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Old 09-09-2012, 05:56 AM
 
1,734 posts, read 1,819,141 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MTAtech View Post
Norway has an income tax, a wealth tax and a VAT. Taxes are also paid both to the state and the local municipality. In addition, a premium is paid to the social security system to finance public hospitals, medical treatment and various social benefits.

According to Wiki, " The tax level in Norway is among the highest in the world. In 2009 the total tax revenue was 41.0 % of the gross domestic product (GDP)." In the U.S, taxes, as a p% of GDP, is 15-20%. "Of the OECD member countries Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, France, Finland and Austria had a higher tax level than Norway in 2009. " Sweden and Denmark are ranked No.1 and No. 2 in entrepreneurship, ahead of the U.S.

From that, many expenditures citizens pay out-of-pocket are paid via taxes. The main point is that the standard of living in Norway and the high-tax countries is very high.
Wiki isn't a good source here, I am afraid. Taxes are complicated things, and Norway is a high-deductions country.

The Norwegian statistics bureau, SSB calculates that the total taxes actually paid for the average Norwegian is 25 %. It ranges from 9 % on the low end for people who barely top the minimum income to pay tax, up to about 32 % at the top. (I got to run, I'll try to edit in a link to the direct quote later) While tax brackets above this exists, the bureau notes that almost no-one pays this as people with incomes high enough to end up in those brackets normaly have most of their income from whatever is tax free at the time.

The fact that taxes are 41 % of the goverments income does not actually say anything about the tax level, just the govenments spread of income sources. A lot of that is going to be pertroleum industry taxes which goes straight into savings anyway.

 
Old 09-09-2012, 05:08 PM
 
1,734 posts, read 1,819,141 times
Reputation: 1135
Quote:
Originally Posted by MTAtech View Post
Norway has an income tax, a wealth tax and a VAT. Taxes are also paid both to the state and the local municipality. In addition, a premium is paid to the social security system to finance public hospitals, medical treatment and various social benefits.

According to Wiki, " The tax level in Norway is among the highest in the world. In 2009 the total tax revenue was 41.0 % of the gross domestic product (GDP)." In the U.S, taxes, as a p% of GDP, is 15-20%. "Of the OECD member countries Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, France, Finland and Austria had a higher tax level than Norway in 2009. " Sweden and Denmark are ranked No.1 and No. 2 in entrepreneurship, ahead of the U.S.

From that, many expenditures citizens pay out-of-pocket are paid via taxes. The main point is that the standard of living in Norway and the high-tax countries is very high.
Ok. When I worked in Norway, I made roughly 100 000 $/year. I had no children, no other dependents and no mortgage or other major deductions. So my tax rate was about as harsh as they get. My wage slip showed a total deduction of 32 %. June was tax free, and December was half taxes.

The wealth tax is 0,7 % on net wealth above approximatly 125 000 $. Property only counts towards the net with 25 % of its listed value. A mortgage or any other debt count against it at 100 %. So in effect, you're going to have your properties paid down before that 0,7 % becomes relevant. Unless you buy another property, like most Norwegians in that situation. The VAT is normally counted against cost of living. I.e. you could count it as a tax, but then the average income in Norway, which is normally listed PPP, soars proportionatly.

There is an online tax calculator on the pages of the Norwegian tax authorities, which you can play around with. If you click the link, it'll take you to a page that has an english option. I got out one of my old wage slips to confirm that the tax rate you see there includes both state, mucipality and social security taxes.

When you enter numbers there, remember that above $ 150 000 or so, more and more income is going to come from stock options, benefits and other non-taxable sources. Significantly higher incomes without deductions are generally the domain of foreigners working in the oil industry, or physicians who don't care much.

Average income in Norway is about 450 000 Nkr, and the lowest 10 % average 250 000 Nkr.

That the governments tax revenue is 41 % of their income simply means that a lot of the governments income derives from the 70-odd percent tax on petroleum companies. (Which isn't spent, but saved up for a rainy day anyway).

In the US, your total taxes depend on the state you live in, but when you add up federal, state and local taxes, social security etc. the number is not normally low. I don't have the reference, but I seem to remember a conversation where the conclusion was that in New York your total taxes would run somewhere in the region of 46 % ?
 
Old 09-09-2012, 05:50 PM
 
Location: Long Island, NY
19,792 posts, read 13,917,756 times
Reputation: 5661
The std method to determine how high taxes are on a society is p% of GDP. I can't speak to your particular situation but I am certain you aren't loading all taxes into your calculations, perhaps the VAT.
 
Old 09-10-2012, 01:07 AM
 
1,734 posts, read 1,819,141 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MTAtech View Post
The std method to determine how high taxes are on a society is p% of GDP. I can't speak to your particular situation but I am certain you aren't loading all taxes into your calculations, perhaps the VAT.
Dude. My "calculations" included getting my old wage slips out and looking at them. And a link to the Norwegian tax authorities online calculator that calculates your total taxes for you. Where you can check out everyones particular situation.
Are you telling me that is wrong based on a Wiki article?

Also, we're not talking about how high taxes are on a society, but how much taxes the citizens pay. The link between the two numbers can be quite tenous. For example, in Norway oil companies pay over 70 % tax on the petroleum profits. That makes the "taxes as a percentage of GDP" number far higher without touching the tax levels on either the individual or corporations.

As for VAT, if you include that, you get an average real tax of about 47 %. Pretty close to New York I think. However, when you compare income levles between countries, it is normally done in PPP, which means that VAT is already accounted for. So if you want to include VAT in taxes, the Norwegain base income for your calculations soars by the same amount.
 
Old 09-10-2012, 01:30 AM
 
510 posts, read 429,944 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ovcatto View Post
I keep reading about the government intervening in folks lives, so I'm curious to know what is it that you are doing that I'm not. I ask because I trying to figure out why the government has been interfering in mine. Outside of a few traffic signals, and having to pay a toll to return to Philadelphia from New Jersey I've had absolutely zero interactions with the government, government policies or anything that could be remotely construed as being present much less interfering in my life.

Can you folks who have the government poking into the life's help figure out what makes you so special?
Look towards Britain and Europe if you're really curious as to what government could possibly want to f#ck with you about. You can get -jail time- for blogging about immigration over there.

Shocking right? I'm sure that stuff would neeever happen here even if all the Progressive's wishes came true...
 
Old 09-10-2012, 04:16 AM
 
Location: Long Island, NY
19,792 posts, read 13,917,756 times
Reputation: 5661
Quote:
Originally Posted by FabianS View Post
Look towards Britain and Europe if you're really curious as to what government could possibly want to f#ck with you about. You can get -jail time- for blogging about immigration over there.

Shocking right? I'm sure that stuff would neeever happen here even if all the Progressive's wishes came true...
England also has an official religion. That's why we have a constitution that protects fundamental rights. Looking across the water doesn't mean you need to be paranoid.
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