Yes, we have a royal family which in my opinion could be replaced as I don’t think in this day and age that someone should inherit a position through accident of birth. On the other hand, looking at the USA some of the alternatives aren’t worth shouting about.
Some of the things we get:
Subsidised day care - kindergarden costs max £150 per month with a reduction for second and third child. So we don’t have to rely on grandparents as much as you often do in the UK.
Free school meals for all
480 days state paid maternity leave per child on 80% of your salary. Can be shared by both parents. If you take out five days per week - Monday to Friday then you can be at home with your baby for around 18 months. 660 days if you have twins.
National health care
Subsidised dentalcare for adults
Subsidised prescription medicine for adults
£150 per month child allowance per child
£300 per month student allowance for university or college
Sickness benefit at 80% of your wages
Unemployment benefit at 80% of your wages with a maximum of £2 500 per month
That sounds good Ulabi, but how does it work out in practice?
Who comes out on the benefit side when comparing taxation versus
benefits ? Oh and one thing l forgot, is do you pay VAT ??
WE do at about 15% on most of what we buy !!! This on top of our
33% income tax ,and various hidden taxes !!
And our dental care is barely functional and privately is far too expensive unless you are a film star !!
The VAT rate is higher than 15% and basic rate income tax is lower than 33%.
VAT in the UK is 20% and our basic rate income tax is 20%, this then increases through the various tax bands to a higher rate of 40%, there’s also an additional higher rate at 45%.
Thanks for updating my memory Baz !
In 1975 l was paying 35% income tax, l can’t remember what VAT
was but l think it was about 7 to8 % !
So obviously been some big changes since l left the country?
Anyway, apologies to Ulabi for supplying out of date info !
But l still believe the Swedes must be a very tolerant lot to put up
with what they pay ??
Never heard of that Dex , so is it only for that day or for the rest of the
year ??
What do you think of scrubbing income tax alltogether and raising
VAT to compensate, then the big spenders would pay more tax
automatically ?
You would’nt need a revenue service to chase them either ?
I haven’t read through all the posts on this thread but from what I can see nobody it seems, has mentioned the average wage in Sweden. With a tax rate of 79% that would mean very high deductions from salaries. If the cost of living in Sweden is high as I suspect it is then possibly average incomes are higher than here. It would be interesting to know all the comparative figures for our two countries just to see which is better off.
That's a good point Baz, but if that's so wouldn't it make your
exports uncompetitive ??
I have read that difference between rich and poor in Sweden is
much,much, lower than here too? So how do they do it?
Maybe they have some sort of export like oil, or some other
mineral that is in high demand that powers their economy ??
Maybe they nationalised that and the proceeds go to the citizens
instead of a few fat cats only ??
Who knows?
If you read my earlier post carefully you will see that I wrote that the top marginal tax rate is 79% as opposed to 59% in the UK. This doesn’t mean that everyone pays 79% or 59% income tax in either country. Average income tax deduction from salary is around 33%
Average salary is around £3 500 per calendar month.
We don’t export oil. You’re confusing Sweden with Norway
When I was working, before retirement, the average deduction from my salary was around 30%.
The average monthly salary is far higher in Sweden than in the UK, here I believe it is around £2,000 per month. Even so with possibly a higher cost of living in Sweden generally things may not be very different from us in the UK.
Having been to the Uk on numerous occasions Baz I’ve often found that prices in supermarkets are on a par to prices in Sweden.
Some approximate supermarket price examples:
Mature cheese £7 per kilo
Pork chops £6 per kilo
Full fat milk 90 pence per litre
Potatoes 90 pence per kilo
Tomatoes £2 per kilo
Unsalted butter £5 per kilo
Of course prices vary and most of these products can be bought cheaper on special offer or non brand names. For example most supermarket chains have their own brand dairy products that are cheaper than for example Arla but paradoxically produced at Arla dairies.
Haven’t been to the UK for a couple of years now so it may have changed. If our prices are higher it may be offset by our higher salaries.
From what you write it does seem as though prices are similar to the UK, although I believe ours are slightly higher. With your higher salaries and higher tax rates, living in Sweden is probably very similar to the UK in that respect. The standard of living in Sweden I have always understood is higher than in the UK. However, never having been to Sweden (or any other country) this is not my own first-hand experience.
What l said was “” an export LIKE oil, or some other mineral" Ulabi!
I believe you have considerable deposits of tungsten ?
Thanks for your info anyway !!
I think our tax rates are similar to the UK, our top marginal income tax rate is 45% for income over $180000, our GST (VAT) is 10% (but food, education, family homes are exempt). Currently the average wage is $63000p/a (32000 pounds)
We don’t have death duties but we do have capital gains tax which is the marginal rate discounted by 50% for gains held in excess of 12 months however the family home is exempt from capital gains tax.
I did read somewhere that Sweden is the highest taxed country in the world but personally I would rather pay more tax for better social services not that I have paid any tax except GST for over a decade.
That’s all right DM, no problem.
