how would that affect ease of tax generation? You would still need to have the proper congressional authorities vote on the matter, no? And sure, when I am in sweden I get taxed more because of VAT and such, but having a national standard where I can just declare my taxes for the year by pushing a single button for free through the government tax app is a benefit to outweigh any worry that you will get shafted by new taxes. In the US it just seems backwards and no excuse can justify this. Horrible system.
rayiner|6 years ago
People aren’t paying attention to tax bills that are getting voted on. But when they do their taxes, they’re forced to actually work out how much they’re paying the government. A bill or invoice they get in the mail wouldn’t have the same effect.
As to the US system being unjustifiable, I think Europeans don’t really understand America. In an ideal world, I’d prefer a Swedish system with high taxes, lots of social services, etc. But Americans aren’t Swedes. They don’t trust their government, and they don’t really trust each other. A quarter of Americans polled favor their state seceding from the country (ranging from 20-34% depending on region). By comparison, only 15% of people in the Basque region of Spain want independence.
I live in Maryland, which is about the same population as Denmark and only moderately smaller than Sweden. It’s a “blue state.” Our capital is Baltimore. Schools in Baltimore spend 40% more per student than schools in Sweden, in a city where you can get a beautiful townhouse for maybe 1/4 of what it would cost in Stockholm. The schools should be amazing, right? No. They’re awful, with terrible test score and enormous gang violence. The city government is corrupt. Not in the way you probably think the US as a whole is corrupt (controlled by wealthy elite), but the sort of reciprocity that typifies developing countries. The former mayor has been convinced of felonies, and in February will probably receive a sentence of 5-10 years in prison.
So despite being a strongly blue state, we elected a Republican Governor by an overwhelming majority that promised to control spending, cancel public projects like transit lines, etc. Because we don’t trust (can’t trust) our government to use our tax dollars effectively.
So yes, there is support in America for things that make people think hard about how much they pay the government: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcEhl5HfGMM. And it’s not irrational or crazy. Our situation is very different than what you face in Sweden.
colejohnson66|6 years ago
Except they’re not working it out. They just have TurboTax do it then see they get a few thousand dollars for $35+ and a few minutes of work. Most people don’t understand that a tax return is money that was already theirs; They just see it as an extra paycheck.