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manderley

> Some European country tax 90% of income...

This is untrue.

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If I make a sale in Norway for 100 NOK:

Business VAT: 20 spent (20 %) 80 NOK left.

Income tax: 39 spent (max ~49 %) 41 NOK left.

VAT on purchase: 8.2 spent (20 %) 32.8 NOK left.

67.2 % taxes.

If I spend my money on gas/diesel then I would have ~16 NOK of value left. (84 % taxes)

About 18 % of the income tax I'll get back during my pension.

So 90 % is probably achievable on some things in some countries.

Huh? Why are you accounting for VAT twice? Either you consider that the business 'pays' the VAT or you 'pay' the VAT, you don't get it both ways.

It is both ways, for me. My business pays VAT on sales, and I personally pay VAT on purchases, so for me and my business VAT will be paid twice. Both for what I sold and what I(personally) purchased.

Either the consumer is paying the VAT or the business. You can't say that the business pays the VAT when you are the business, but the consumer pays the VAT when you are the consumer. If you frame it as you "personally purchased" something and paid VAT, then what you sold as a business to someone else was "personally purchased" and had the VAT paid by them too.

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