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just to review: taxes
Dec. 3rd, 2009 06:16 pmI recall looking into this back when I first started planning to move to the UK and being surprised by what I found.
There's a popular perception in the US that the UK (and Europe in general) loads its inhabitants with burdensome taxes. "Maybe we don't have all those socialist benefits they have over there, but at least we don't pay most of our income in tax!" is the sweeping generalisation.
Of course tax is an incredibly complex subject, and almost any simple statement is going to generalise and oversimplify. And income and standards of living differ in many ways between the two countries. But, from reading a little about it, I think I understand the following, which runs counter to this US narrative: ( Read more... )
There's a popular perception in the US that the UK (and Europe in general) loads its inhabitants with burdensome taxes. "Maybe we don't have all those socialist benefits they have over there, but at least we don't pay most of our income in tax!" is the sweeping generalisation.
Of course tax is an incredibly complex subject, and almost any simple statement is going to generalise and oversimplify. And income and standards of living differ in many ways between the two countries. But, from reading a little about it, I think I understand the following, which runs counter to this US narrative: ( Read more... )
