Plan B Forum

income ***** £23,000 ******* £30,000 ******* £45,000 ******* £60,000
USD ******** $36,800 ******* $48,000 ******* $72,000 ******* $96,000

Tax ******** £4,542 ******* £6,781 ******* £11,937 ******* £18,236
USD ******* $7,267 ******* $10,850 ******* $19,099 ******* $29,178

% ******** 19.75% ******* 22.60% ******* 26.53% ******* 30.39%



Is this just income tax? The VAT is in addition?

yrs,
rubato

Yes, that should be so. VAT is paid as part of the "purchase price" of (most) goods and services. In the same way, U.S. income tax stats (Federal, State and local, if any) do not include sales tax, if any.

It is pretty amazing to see what you get for your tax money there--health insurance, a great safety net, retirement pensions, and education through the university level for many. And the tax rates are much lower than in the US, when you realize at the federal level we have to add another 15% for social security, not to mention various state and local income taxes. Sure the VAT is pretty high, but so are our state sales and property taxes. As much as many of the Western European countries are called high taxation countries in the US, we usually pay a lot more in the way of taxes for a lot less in the way of personal benefits. It depends what your priorities are.