Denmark is once again at the top of the list of OECD countries with the highest tax burden.
Regardless of how the Danish national football team fares at the ongoing World Cup in football, there is at least one discipline where only very few countries in the world can match us.
The economic organization OECD has just published a list in which the 38 member countries are ranked according to how big the tax burden was in 2021.
And if you put the total taxes and fees in relation to Denmark’s gross domestic product, you reach 46.9 percent. This ensures us a solid first place on the list.
We have – with two exceptions in 2017 and 2018 – been there since 2002.
And it’s not so strange if you ask Mads Lundby Hansen, chief economist and deputy director of the liberal think tank Cepos.
It is expensive to run a welfare society like the Danish one.
– When it comes to taxes on work, we are roughly in line with the other countries, but our taxes – and especially consumption taxes – are among the highest.
There are not many countries where you pay 25 percent VAT and where there are no exceptions such as lower VAT on food and the like, he says.
However, Mads Lundby Hansen believes that with political will it is possible to leave the boring first place to others.
Financial leeway for tax relief
There is financial scope for tax reductions, and the list of good proposals from the Cepos economist is long.
– I think that you should look at the tax on work. It can come down even further by easing the top tax, but you should also look at the employment deduction, which benefits all wage earners, he says.
the registration tax is one of the most growth-inhibiting taxes we have. Here I could imagine Swedish conditions where the tax is completely eliminated, says Mads Lundby Hansen.
Also when it comes to capital taxation and corporation tax, it is higher in Denmark than in Sweden, which is number six on the OECD list with a tax burden of 42.6 percent.
The closest suitor to Denmark is France with 45.1 percent, followed by Austria with 43.5 percent.
In 2020, the tax burden in Denmark was 47.1 per cent, and thus it has fallen by 0.2 percentage points.
However, the decrease can be attributed to the fact that in 2021, smaller payments of extraordinary holiday pay were made than in 2020.
If you ignore them, the tax burden would have increased. And if you take them out of the accounts entirely, Denmark would still be firmly at the top of the list.
And yet, among the happiest on earth. Make it make sense, conservatives!
I dunno, I visited a couple of months ago, and it seems like the money is being put to good use.
Socialism works somewhat when you’re already rich. When you’re poor you stay poor. Just look at Venezuela, they are eating rats.
Denmark is also one of only 5 countries in the world I would consider migrating to, if I decided to leave the Netherlands. Almost the top of the list, the only thing is that language…. I am not saying Dutch is the most elegant language in the world… but Danish… brrrr
Suck it loosers!
DENMARK #1! DENMARK #1!
They’re building their war chest to once again bring Danelaw across the North Sea.
The danes I know are very nice, but they absolutely love paying tax.
It sucks when you have almost the same percentage of taxes but not the same public services level.
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Google translate.:
Denmark is once again at the top of the list of OECD countries with the highest tax burden.
Regardless of how the Danish national football team fares at the ongoing World Cup in football, there is at least one discipline where only very few countries in the world can match us.
The economic organization OECD has just published a list in which the 38 member countries are ranked according to how big the tax burden was in 2021.
And if you put the total taxes and fees in relation to Denmark’s gross domestic product, you reach 46.9 percent. This ensures us a solid first place on the list.
We have – with two exceptions in 2017 and 2018 – been there since 2002.
And it’s not so strange if you ask Mads Lundby Hansen, chief economist and deputy director of the liberal think tank Cepos.
It is expensive to run a welfare society like the Danish one.
– When it comes to taxes on work, we are roughly in line with the other countries, but our taxes – and especially consumption taxes – are among the highest.
There are not many countries where you pay 25 percent VAT and where there are no exceptions such as lower VAT on food and the like, he says.
However, Mads Lundby Hansen believes that with political will it is possible to leave the boring first place to others.
Financial leeway for tax relief
There is financial scope for tax reductions, and the list of good proposals from the Cepos economist is long.
– I think that you should look at the tax on work. It can come down even further by easing the top tax, but you should also look at the employment deduction, which benefits all wage earners, he says.
the registration tax is one of the most growth-inhibiting taxes we have. Here I could imagine Swedish conditions where the tax is completely eliminated, says Mads Lundby Hansen.
Also when it comes to capital taxation and corporation tax, it is higher in Denmark than in Sweden, which is number six on the OECD list with a tax burden of 42.6 percent.
The closest suitor to Denmark is France with 45.1 percent, followed by Austria with 43.5 percent.
In 2020, the tax burden in Denmark was 47.1 per cent, and thus it has fallen by 0.2 percentage points.
However, the decrease can be attributed to the fact that in 2021, smaller payments of extraordinary holiday pay were made than in 2020.
If you ignore them, the tax burden would have increased. And if you take them out of the accounts entirely, Denmark would still be firmly at the top of the list.
And yet, among the happiest on earth. Make it make sense, conservatives!
I dunno, I visited a couple of months ago, and it seems like the money is being put to good use.
Socialism works somewhat when you’re already rich. When you’re poor you stay poor. Just look at Venezuela, they are eating rats.
Denmark is also one of only 5 countries in the world I would consider migrating to, if I decided to leave the Netherlands. Almost the top of the list, the only thing is that language…. I am not saying Dutch is the most elegant language in the world… but Danish… brrrr
Suck it loosers!
DENMARK #1! DENMARK #1!
They’re building their war chest to once again bring Danelaw across the North Sea.
The danes I know are very nice, but they absolutely love paying tax.
It sucks when you have almost the same percentage of taxes but not the same public services level.