Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
I remember reading a report somewhere recently which said that the total burden of taxation (direct and indirect taxation, plus things like medical insurance in those countries where it's not government funded) in the top 20 industrialized nations is pretty much the same - between about 50 and 55% of income on average. Different countries choose to apply tax in different ways, but it all finishes us at pretty much the same sort of level once you add everything up.
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Alaska has no income tax. Most towns also have no sales tax, or a very small one if they do. The state services are paid for mostly via oil revenues from corporate taxes, property taxes, and tourism taxes (aka Bed Tax), fuel tax, and alcohol & tobacco tax. The only other tax we pay is the Federal Income tax. So it sounds pretty good for us from the outside. Our total tax rate is more like 10% - 20%
Of course our cost of living is about 10%-20% higher than most of the US, so I guess that almost makes up for it.