Deeper Thought: I’ve considered opening this blog to more subjective discussion. Tax issues encompass all classes, genders, and races. It’s a definite in life. We all must eat, breathe, and pay taxes. No one wants to pay MORE taxes yet we’ll ALL be paying more in 2011. But do higher taxes mean a lower quality of life? Not exactly…
The Scoop: Mercer Human Resource Consulting shared the highlights from their 2009 Quality of Living Survey. As expected, no city in the United States makes the Top 5 in the “Overall” or “Infrastructure” categories. Hell, even if you categorize by region NO U.S city is in the top 5 for the “Americas” (They’re all Canadian). So what’s the #1 best place to live?
Vienna, Austria. That’s right; a city in Austria has the highest Quality of Living according to Mercer. And the people of Vienna are up to their eyeballs in taxes. In fact, their income tax rates are as high as 50%! Now before you think, “I’m glad I don’t live there!” lets take a look at how they can be so happy paying big bucks to the tax man.
Quality of Life: Vienna has parks, recreation, reliable public transportation, museums, green space, medical insurance, affordable housing, and a myriad of social services available to all citizens. Would you pay more in taxes in order to receive free medical care and all the perks than come with that?
Contemplate… Think about how gas prices, rent/mortgage, and medical insurance costs are literally killing you. With all of these costs practically accounted for, people in Vienna and other European cities actually work LESS than we do here.
Feedback? I’d like to hear feedback on this issue. Don't get me wrong, I’m pretty proud of our system. The IRS system is more "tough love" than most taxpayers can handle, but they've cleaned up their act bit by bit over the years. I work long hours and I don’t mind it, because I love helping the American taxpayer with their issues. But what do you think?
Have a happy and safe weekend. I’ll be back in the office on Monday as always to help with your Tax Debt issues.