Posted September 06, 2013
So, I am American. Every day I see a Tea Party rally (Tea stands for "Taxed Enough Already") I feel even more ashamed of this. Do they not realize that we have the third lowest tax rate in the world? And that a country needs tax revenue to function?
If it were up to the average American, it seems, we would have no taxes whatsoever. Everyone would fend for themselves.
It used to be, or at least my grandfather tells me, back during World War 2 it was patriotic to pay your taxes and help your community. Now it's considered unpatriotic to pay taxes without kicking and screaming, and, well, what's the community ever done for you, right?
The Southern states have a low cost of living, some don't have a state income tax last time I checked (Florida where I used to live) sales tax usually hovers around 8%(again Florida) unlike the 24% VAT here in Poland although I am not sure if VAT is equivalent to sales tax due to me not knowing tax law or code.
I used to have a job over there where I was making about $13.25/hour and I lived comfortably as a single person and that's with paying for gas which is admittedly cheaper over there than in Europe because getting charged by liter is totally legit and all :D
Perhaps the US has been taxing people more since I left but I still think it depends on where you live in the US as far as how high or low your taxes are going to be...just like anywhere else :D