Sweden the tax paradise
In Sweden, life is simple. You start working and the employer pays the tax to the state. Everything is automatically entered into the tax office and in 99.99% of cases it is correct down to the last detail.
I used to count on 30-35% for the most part when I lived in Svea rike. Done and done and you get a small penny back when the tax refund comes. Like a hundred ring or so if you don't have a mortgage and get interest deductions etc.
Germany has slightly lower taxes. Personally, I'm on about 20% tax. That's a full 10-15% points lower than Sweden! Nice! Or?
What kind of health insurance do you have? What kind of Social Insurance do you have? No? Do not you know? No, I don't mean your personal insurance that allows you to jump to the front of the queue for mouse arm surgery. OK, so if you are american and are reading this, it probably doesn't make sense. But if you are in Sweden and maybe have immigrated, then it should at least be understanable.
Sweden's Health and Social Insurance is baked into what we see as our tax. Our 30-35% rate. So I understand if this is not something you see or think about. That is not the case in Germany. Here they are separated, but still percentage based.
I may only have 20% in taxes, but I also have approx. 8% in health insurance and 13% in social contributions, including a lot of extras such as social insurance, unemployment insurance (mandatory), survivors' fees, parental insurance etc. In addition to that, I also have to contribute to the building up of East Germany with a tax rate of 5.5%.
If I combine my taxes plus my health insurance and social security contributions, I end up with a deduction of about 41% of my gross income.
So yes, Sweden is probably a bit of a tax haven.
If you want, you can read a little more deeply about the taxes, you can read here:
Posts
Leave a Comment