And not only is it a flat tax, but a very low one at that.
Now Russia, for all its faults (alcoholism, corruption, etc) does have an infrastructure, a stable and sane society (ie-not shooting each other up over food as per Africa) and as they get corruption under control, I believe more and more people will take advantage of these low taxes and capital will flow there. However, fresh on my mind is also how much time and effort I had to piss away to calculate my tax bill. I do believe the simplicity of their tax code will alone attract people there. Again, over the long run.
7 comments:
Assuming that in the long run there are any people still living at Russia (given current negative population growth rates).
My wife is from Russia, so I've thought about moving there, but get real. The 2009 Index of Economic Freedom ranks Russia 146 out of 179, between Vietnam and Haiti. There's a 26% Social Security tax, an 18% VAT, high tariffs (e.g. 100% on imported cars), and regulations that change daily without warning. There's no respect for private property, no right to own guns, no regional autonomy, and no work ethic.
Go live there for a year if you dare, marry a beautiful woman, and get the hell out. There's no future for your children in Russia.
Over here we just heard about a local guy heading over to Russia to work in the oil fields. This is a guy who has been working on rigs in Wyoming for about 4-6 years, so I imagine his company must have made him a pretty good deal to head off to Siberia.
It does seem that these days oil-companies are like reverse canaries. Wherever they start throwing workers, things are getting better...
So, am I to understand this correctly?
If the government lets the people keep more of the money they earn, the people will be more likely to stay there, work, spend, raise families, and all that? Businesses will move to the area?
Now, that cannot be right. The Chosen One, errrr... I mean the teleprompter, errr... The current US Presidential Administration is telling us that the rich need to give more and more. That's what we believe, isn't it?
All sarcasm aside, posts like this really do a bang up job of explaining those little points that are key to understanding the overall picture.
Perhaps Russia will be the next China in 20 years? Imagine all the Made in Russia stuff we will start importing.
I wouldn't be so optimistic about Russia. Corruption, once ingrained, is hard to root out. They have vast natural resources and a well educated populace, but the rule of law is virtually none existent. Try starting a business without having to pay protection. Forget about it. On the other hand, the nightlife in Moscow is great, and the women are fantastically beautiful, so I definitely recommend a visit.
@ Annon
In the long run, we're all dead.
The graph has Japan as 50%, but what I'm paying is about 42.5% here in Tokyo. That includes local municiple tax and other "insurance" programs. National Sales tax is another 5%.
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