The OECD

[imoldernu]

OECD = The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Interesting information about the organization and the status of the US among member nations. This link is to the statistics page.

Statistics - OECD

An almost endless number of specific comparisons of member countries, showing relative changes, absolutes, and direction of dozens and dozens of factors in the economy, from the cost of pensions, healthcare costs, retirement ages, number of legally "paid" working days... (US has none, while most nations have more than 20), and things like food, disposable income, energy and forecasts of future costs of products, and some retirement statistics.
Worthwhile, just going to the page and scrolling down to see what kinds of info are available.

...too many comparisons to count...
Things like the US income Tax Rate:
Effective tax rates on $100K in the US 26% vs. Germany 44%, Denmark 42%, and India 39%

And Tax Revenues as a % of GDP:
US the lowest of the OECD with 32%... Denmark highest @ 57% and the average of all OECD 38%

One of the facts that surprised me was that 18 out of 24 countries have more physicians per 1,000 people than the US.

While statistics by themselves are meaningless, opportunities and problems can be inferred, as we become more globalized. The OECD is a good reference point.

 

[Totoro]

Love that site. Think you misread the table though? I get 24.3% in the US for 2012.

Anyway with regards to taxes. I used to work in Belgium, they are nr. 2, right behind Denmark.

Moved to NL, still quite high .. unless you are an expat like me! I get 30% of my income tax free in the first ten years.

Not very much in the OECD tables about that.

 

[ER1970]

Things like the US income Tax Rate:
Effective tax rates on $100K in the US 26% vs. Germany 44%, Denmark 42%, and India 39%

Interesting. But in the US we pay 26% fed tax, then on top we pay state and city income taxes, medicare and SS taxes as well - adds up to 40%+/- in most states for a $100K income. In Germany and Denmark I assume they have only one gov tax to pay?

 

[Totoro]

Interesting. But in the US we pay 26% fed tax, then on top we pay state and city income taxes, medicare and SS taxes as well - adds up to 40%+/- in most states for a $100K income. In Germany and Denmark I assume they have only one gov tax to pay?

Unfortunately for the EU residents, you are wrong.

In Belgium for example there is federal, municipal, SS tax too for instance. Medicare tax too, but that's peanuts.

NL has water tax, federal tax, SS taxes, healthcare tax, provincial tax, city tax. Just to name a few.

And of course there are also punitive taxes on gas and tobacco, much higher than in the US. And obviously VAT (21% - 25% in most EU countries).

As an illustration: I was a single guy in Belgium costing my employer in salary about $100k. My net wage was just about $40k. That was a high paying job with a car luckily. Gas costs about double vs. the US.

Now try buying something with that $40k. Oops, there goes another $7k in VAT (sales tax). So effectively the state gets 67%, employee gets 33%. That's pretty much one reason why I left there and not going back to work

 

[braumeister]

Interesting. But in the US we pay 26% fed tax, then on top we pay state and city income taxes, medicare and SS taxes as well - adds up to 40%+/- in most states for a $100K income. In Germany and Denmark I assume they have only one gov tax to pay?

How do you figure that?
Effective tax rate is the percent of your gross you pay in taxes, not marginal rate, isn't it?