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0 pointsdetourdog2y ago0 comments

One weird thing I learned about one of the Scandinavian countries is that part of the reporting taxes is reporting of labor for DIY home improvement.

The reasoning for this was that the economy could not be adequately measured if DIY work is not recorded.

This really demonstrated to me the American mindset of freedom. I have no idea about California. I think another motivation is that they are trying make sense of what will undoubtedly be a complex tax-reimbursement situation.

I have been a sole-proprietor since the 1990s. I think they are working towards normalizing that sole-proprietor lifestyle with longterm employment.

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mrThrowaway90012y ago

No, there is no such thing in "Scandinavian" countries about reporting labor when doing DIY home improvements. You can deduct the material, or bought labor, when selling the house. But no your own labor, unless you run a company and hire yourself. That might work, but then you have to spend taxes in your company for that income.

Clarification: This is in Sweden, a Scandinavian country.

Edit #2: If you have a specific country in mind, please mention that instead. Makes it easier to refute.

detourdogOP2y ago

Sorry, it was I believe a comment on HN that told a story of having to track their own labor on a home improvements.

This tracking needed to be reported so that economic growth could be better measured.

I couldn't remember the specific country so I referred to it as a country in a region. I also couldn't remember the reporting process and assumed taxes.

I was reminded of the comment when I read the California story. I thought many of the comments were too cynical and narrowly focused. I wanted to broaden the conversation by pointing out that there are many reasons to collect data have new definitions of labor.

I consider HN as a place to throw out thoughts and see the reaction. I don't state anything I don't believe to be true. I'm happy to correct my worldview as needed through dialog.

I certainly do not claim that the notion is true, most likely any false hood is through my poor understanding and expression.

I certainly mean no disrespect to any social effort to create an equitable base line for human existence. I have great admiration for the region of Scandinavia and the Baltic Region as well.

I'm currently from the New England region of the United States.

I wasn't trying to make a statement regarding superiority of one type of social organization over another.

The point I thought was critical is that labor data is used by governments for central planning.

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