Hey, I'm intersted in how Local taxes and spending works in other countries.

I have a theory that the US government is even more inefficent then we think... when you consider government spending as a percentage of GDP, all the US numbers count is Federal government, it doesn't include state or local.

So my question is... how do local spending and taxes work in other countries and how high are local taxes and spending?


For example.... if you live in a certain city and a certain county, and a certain state, you also have to pay taxes to each of those levels of government.  Is this the case in different europeon countries too?  Or does it all just go straight to the federal level and is divvied up later?

If it does happen elsewhere too, about how much is the taxation?

In Canada you pay municipal taxes (typically in the form of property taxes), provincial taxes (usually involving income, corporate and sales taxes), and then federal taxes (including corporate, income and sales taxes). Each of the three levels of government has distinct responsibilities, and most of our most troubled programs are from the federal government getting involved in an area of provincial or municipal jurisdiction.

Dear Kasz216,

United Arab Emirates, Dubai - Taxation = 0% Sales Tax = 0% Income Tax = 0%

However in hotels you do have to pay a 10% municipality fee.

Being a student and not having owned a property before, the following is how I believe U.K council tax works through my general political knowledge and from my parents. Some of it may be incorrect.

Here in the U.K, we have a council tax. For England at least (not sure about other regions of the U.K, with their devolved bodies) it is the only tax set by local government. The basis of the tax is on property value, valued in the 1990's and it has several bands (A-H). Using the government's online council tax band checker, my family's house is in band g. From Wikipedia, I've copied the bands.


A up to £40,000 6/9 67% £845
B £40,001 to £52,000 7/9 78% £986
C £52,001 to £68,000 8/9 89% £1,127
D £68,001 to £88,000 9/9 100% £1,268
E £88,001 to £120,000 11/9 122% £1,550
F £120,001 to £160,000 13/9 144% £1,832
G £160,001 to £320,000 15/9 167% £2,113
H £320,001 and above 18/9 200% £2,536

As for local government spending, council tax only makes up a fraction of the revenue (I remember reading somewhere it is usually only 20-30%). The rest is handed out by the central government. I don't know about the rest of the country, but here in Winchester, local governments provides amongst other things: education, libraries, transport, refuse collection, fire service, road maintenance and police.

Federal taxes, and local/city taxes for the houses I own(well tax for the ground).

Municipal Taxes, State Taxes, Federal Taxes and Social Contributions (which is compulsory, despite its name)

In Canada there are federal and provincial taxes:

Federal is as follows (copied directly from the gov't of Canada website):

• 15% on the first $41,544 of taxable income, +
• 22% on the next $41,544 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $41,544 and $83,088), +
• 26% on the next $45,712 of taxable income (on the portion of taxable income between $83,088 and $128,800), +
• 29% of taxable income over $128,800.

So if you make $50,000 you're paying around $8,093 federally and $3,026 provincially for a total taxing of $11,119. So you're left with $38,881 after the taxman takes his cut. 

And of course that's just income tax. That doesn't even take into account paying into the gov't ponzi scheme a.k.a. Social Security, 13% sales tax on everything you buy (I think food is either tax free or like 5% though), and whatever other taxes we pay. 

For all that you get free education until grade 12, subsidized costs for post secondary, health care, welfare, social security payments (conditionally), worker's comp, and whatever else we get. 

Without percentages and how the system works this thread wont tell you much.
US Illinois.
Fed progressive tax on income. Income reduced by many deductions including state and local income taxes, and property taxes. From 0 to 35%. Everyone gets exemptions and minimum of a standard deduction.
Medicare tax 1.45%. Capital Gains not taxed.
FICA (Social Security) 6.2% of 1st $106K of income. Capital Gains not taxed.
State of Illinois 5% flat income tax.
Investment income taxed at flat 15%. Interest Income taxed as income not investment income.
Sales tax varies by location.
Property tax on realestate property varies by location.

Last year my family paid total of about 22% tax (not counting sales tax) on total income of about 400K.

no local taxes in France.

But VAT ranging from 5.5% up to 19.6% (most items fall under the 19.6% rate).

Add CSG/RDS which is tax on all revenue, 8% on income, 12.3% on capital gains.

Then add standard income taxes ( highest rate is 40% for people making over 70k euros).

Overall when you factor everything tax rate is around 44% of GDP...

Germany which can arguably be considered one of the developed economies in the best shapes taxes at around 39% of GDP...

If you were wondering, the worst provincial taxing in Canada is in Nova Scotia, where it hits 21% on income over $150,000 (on top of the 29% federally) meaning if you live in Nova Scotia and make $150,000 or more the taxman takes half of it.

The best tax situation is in Alberta where it's a flat 10% no matter what you make, so the most you'll be paying including federal is 39%. That's because Alberta is the most conservative province and they have a bunch of oil and shit.