Whether high taxes contribute to your quality of life depends on how much you depend on government services. Usually those who benefit most from government services pay the least taxes and vice versa.

This channel should have thousands more subscribers. Fantastic Michael, as usual.

Great review, thanks! Truth about Portugal. I moved here 9 month ago. Government ecosystem and small business service awful but taxes are very high. The benefit is clean air, nice climate, beautiful nature, and that it’s still Europe.

nice video! i was having some of these toughts because I am in a bubble, thanks for pointing it out

I think that as you said, nominal tax brackets only tell one side of the story. To determine whether a country is a high-tax country or not, one should look at tax revenue-to-gdp ratio. in this regard, ivory coast although its nominal 60% maximum tax bracket isn't very effective at collective tax and can be considered as an average tax country. Regarding the absence of correlation between low tax countries and quality of life, I like to see it from the burn rate point of view: the cost of maintaining infrastructure, roads, police, army and a more or less homogeneous judiciary and education system, exponentially increases according to the size of the country. The bigger the country, the more expensive it is to run, in exponential terms. Overexpansion is often quoted as one of the main reasons why the Roman Empire collapsed. Small countries can be prosperous thanks to multiple factors: - recent exponential development of international trade, - international system where one cannot invade another country anymore without facing backlash and sanctions, - small infrastructure to maintain, most of the time no army, - small population with foreigners easily expulsable, - sometimes foreign capital attraction thanks to fiscal incentives (allowing them to reverse their brain/capital drain that traditionally went towards developped countries), - tourism, - for the Middle East, oil. They are more agile, nimble and easy to maneuver. See the vaccine rollout, small countries had 80% of their population vaccinated very quickly. See the debt to gdp ratio, small countries are generally way less in debt than bigger ones. Bigger countries, especially the ones that aim at reinforcing their regional (or worldwide) power projection capabilities have to consume way more cash than the smaller countries. They need to burn cash to maintain all of this. Small countries clearly have best of both worlds in the current more-or-less stable international context. In a disorganized and less cooperative world, they are potential preys of bigger and more aggressive players (see Taiwan).

Taxes are also high in country like India and it has low quality of life .the top tax in India is 43%

It's a bit tricky... It's like... The places with the more.. vibrant western urban socially liberalish places have higher taxes.. usually

Interesting topic. Like you say there are dozens of things.Just an opinion .One common trend shared with countries with high taxes could be how much indebted countries are with the global financial system( big funds, big banks etc ) the lower the debt with the financial system the less taxes they need to collect(your example Hungary as opossed to Portugal) Hungary had a public battle with the financial system big ones, some were banned,or kicked out the country so their debt is low. Simply check the debt of countries by GDP. Most developed countries are 100% indebted at least, they need to kill the middle-lower classes with taxes, public debt is at least one - two years of GDP, do we get it?. Iin many countries most of the taxes collected by the states go to pay the debt, now unpayable so what it is paid are the interests rates. Eastern European countries have ( very) low to gdp (foreign) debts, bad local services aside, they can be capable of funding their financial system with John Doe fiscal residency or Jane Doe BackpackNomad ´only´. Population could be another factor, the less the merrier, one thing for sure, productivity to have low taxes is not very important, many HQ of life (small ) countries produce really nothing , export even less . Too lenghy. Keep up the good work.

1st considerable question is - u want pay 0 tax or pay some tax ? If u want to pay 0 then there have option, If u want to pay tax then there are lots of options, Asia, Eastern Europe, even in europe with non-dom cyprus,ireland,malta or lump sum tax in italy,greece, Switzerland. So main question isin which region want to live and why, then find a better tax option.

2:45 Now ask the question ''who prints the money''

I would argue that Singapore, Liechtenstein, etc have higher absolute per capita taxes than neighboring countries, which comes from the higher per-capita income and productivity. So - yes, ultimately, both higher productivity and higher absolute taxes are what make good public infrastructure, but not necessarily high relative tax rates.

Great video. Idea for next topic...How about a video of High quality of living vs. low taxes vs. personal freedoms.

The correlation between high income tax rates and quality of life can be complex and depends on various factors. **Generally**, higher income taxes can enable governments to provide more comprehensive public services and social welfare programs, which can contribute to a higher overall quality of life. However, the impact of income tax rates on quality of life can vary depending on how tax revenues are utilized and distributed, as well as other socio-economic factors in each country. Here are some examples of countries with relatively high income tax rates and generally high quality of life: 1. **Denmark**: Denmark is known for its high income tax rates, with a progressive tax system where the top marginal tax rate can exceed 50%. However, Denmark consistently ranks high in quality of life indices due to its well-developed welfare state, which provides extensive healthcare, education, and social benefits. 2. **Sweden**: Sweden also has high income tax rates, particularly for higher earners. The tax revenues support a generous welfare system that includes universal healthcare, high-quality education, and comprehensive social services. Sweden is often cited for its high standard of living and overall well-being. 3. **Norway**: Norway has a progressive income tax system with high rates, especially for those with higher incomes. The country uses these tax revenues to fund robust public services, including healthcare, education, and social security. Norway consistently ranks among the countries with the highest quality of life globally. 4. **Finland**: Finland's income tax rates are relatively high, particularly for individuals with higher earnings. However, Finland is renowned for its excellent public education system, universal healthcare, and overall societal well-being. These services are largely funded through tax revenues. 5. **Netherlands**: The Netherlands has a progressive income tax system, with higher tax rates for higher incomes. The country scores well in quality of life measures due to its strong social welfare programs, efficient healthcare system, and emphasis on work-life balance. It's important to note that while these countries have high income tax rates and generally high quality of life, correlation does not necessarily imply causation. Many other factors, such as economic stability, social policies, education levels, healthcare quality, and cultural attitudes, also influence the overall quality of life in each country. Additionally, the perception of a high quality of life can vary among individuals based on personal preferences and priorities.

👏🥂🎉excellent content , great tropic, what’s your website and blog please?

If I were a country, I would much rather have Investors than higher taxes. Peace.

What is interesting is how some countries have a high advertised tax rate yet massive loopholes to pay little to no taxes, typically available for investors if you have a sufficiently big portfolio (8 figures and up). So the questions is also, high taxes (percentage wise) for who?

The real question Michael is, What are the best countries? Maybe mine are not the same as yours. Not all are taxes or finance...maybe food, weather etc

Can you talk about the tax changes coming to UAE in 2023?

All Considered, it seems usually, in most cases, are usually relatively small countries that can afford low taxes. Even the comparison between "low tax" states such as Washington or Florida falls flat when considering they have high property taxes and high sales taxes, though frankly me and maybe most would rather prefer that kind of indirect taxation than having to keep records and files and to file taxes for personal income etc.

Another fascinating topic and educational video. I always learn something. It's certainly difficult to compare taxes with quality of life--as you've brilliantly noted. However, I offer two very minor observations (and I don't have the numbers to back me up. Mostly hearsay and personal observations. Sorry). (1) I've always heard (perhaps a myth) that while Washington state has no income tax, this is made up in part by higher sales and real estate taxes. Perhaps corporate taxes are higher as well? (2) Interesting example: quality of life in San Marino is better than Italy. From my perspective, the Italian areas surrounding San Marino are very similar. I suppose if you compare San Marino with an impoverished and quasi-abandoned hill town of southern Italy, of course, San Marino would have a higher quality of life than the entire Italian Republic, by virtue of San Marino being situated in a relatively industrious area on the Italian peninsula. Thank you 'Lord Michael.' 😁

Is it possible to own house in for example UK and Germany and maybe USA and dont pay tax there, pay tax in Switzerland or Dubai instead ? and live in the mentioned countrys a couple a mounth a year ?

Michael, I have heard of a tax strategy that involves not spending more than 4 months in 3 different countries. Do this work or is this just a "Pipe Dream"? Thanks so much for the excellent videos.

UAE- for individuals what about social media influencer license? Is it true it costs 15,000 AED Is having a media freezone company with online advertising activity adequate. Or do individuals also have to pay 15,000 AED more for the NMC influencer license? Appreciate content and kindly reply thanks

Just an example, healthcare is imho most certainly one of the main contributors to quality of life. In high taxed countries like the Scandinavian countries, healthcare is readily available and at no cost. And in Uniquely Singapore you may also have world class healthcare available, however you need a good (and expensive) healthcare insurance, to get that world class services and care. Just an example. In so called low taxed, high quality countries most of the quality is costly. Not as in taxes, but as in you need to fork out a lot of money to get it.

For the algo, btw, what MBTI are you?

The distorted view is believing that taxes are the only determining factor of higher quality of life. Along with taxation there is the ability of a nation to have encompassing and equitable policies and customs. That is why one will find high taxation places and low quality of life just like one will find low taxation places with the best quality of life they can afford. If one wants to look at answer this question one would have to look at many variables, e.g. natural resources, climate, location, culture, progressive policies and policies, education, size of the country and above all what does a nation define as a "high quality of life". And by the way, Hungary? ... are you joking? This is a complex and large subject with many variables and undefined definition for what you are attempting to explain.

Michael, I hear a lot about the Republic of Georgia from friends, is Georgia low tax?

Malta, Cyprus, San Marino, HK, Singapore… only very small countries. Is there any big country with low taxes?

Can you please discuss patent taxes.

Size of the country matters. Often time people will tell you "sure but SG is small and not sure they can attain the same result with 100M residents". I think it's a valid point, not sure if it's really a problem but clearly when you have a large population, the people living on the margin are more frequent hence they need some form of social support.

A state like Washington doesn't have "no taxes." They have high sales tax, instead of income tax. The state still gets tax revenue from residents and uses it to provide a good quality of life.

Even when you only take Europe into account, rich high quality of life countries can afford to try the high tax experiment without ending up in poverty within a few years, poorer and lower quality of life countries don't have that luxury. It's not that there's no causation in the QoL-taxation correlation, it's just that it's the other way round. People are universally driven to socialism but only the wealthy can truly experiment with it and have that system survive for a few generations before falling apart.

Low tax countries attract high net worth individuals who don’t want to pay high tax, they spend their wealth in these countries, spreading the wealth around organically.

😮

I think in order to improve this argument it's best to compare countries that have comparable productivity, social services, and quality of life then see how high or low taxes and efficiency of resource allocation fairs in this bracket. A corrupt third world country robbing its people blind with little to no social services in return would be an unfair comparison to one that doesn't or to one that allocates resources efficiently vs inefficiently.

I agree it's not easy to make the argument that high-tax countries generally have a higher quality of life than low tax countries. However, I do also think that most low tax countries have the advantage of being small/tiny countries and therefore don't need to deal with common security concerns that large or medium sized countries have to deal with such as having a military or other expensive security personnel that keeps a country safe, because they are politically irrelevant on the world stage. Countries that are politically relevant or have a lot of adversaries around the world wouldn't be able to afford the security personnel needed to keep their country safe with low tax revenues. Lastly and most importantly, most low tax countries don't have a pension system or have very low paying pension systems. Whatever you make in low-tax countries throughout your life has to last until the end. If you stop working at 65, you must have 15-20 years of savings in order to make it to your 80s. Some financially literate people will be able to plan this far ahead. But the truth is most people aren't capable of planning ahead this far, which is why pension systems exist in the first place and why high tax revenues are needed to fund it.

Note: Malaysia it's quite small compared to India, neither does it have the inherent issues of India. since you said "Malaysia it's a big country".

Interesting Michael, smaller populations with less bureaucracy and also countries with no hard drug issues maybe due to culture and/or severe drug penalties but probably a political hot potato in the Western world.

I would like to leave Canada for taxation purposes but perhaps once the Conservative government gets in they may change some of the taxation that the liberals/socialists have put in place i/e wealth and carbon etc.. So I will give it a few more years but I will be ready to jump, with a 3rd passport, if it is warranted.

Thank God the middle east & the United States have OIL!