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0 pointsSecretDreams15d ago0 comments

The income disparity between Germany and California is gargantuan as you approach the top percentiles.

In the 1%, average income in Germany is 272k usd. In California, it's north of 1mil usd. At 0.1%, it's 1.1 mil usd in Germany and 3.2+ mil in California.

The distributions between high and low income earners are much flatter in Germany because it is harder to abuse the system to get to such salaries. No so in America. Hence Germany also does not need such aggressive taxation schemes as what's proposed (they also have way more flat taxes as well).

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rayiner15d ago

You’re comparing to California, but we’re talking about this proposed Washington tax. California’s tax schedule is actually much more like Germany’s than this proposed Washington income tax.

In California, the big jump comes at $72,000, where the 9.3% rate kicks in. The $742,000 rate is only a little higher, at 12.3%. That’s similar to Germany where 42% kicks in at 70,000 euros (top 15%) and the top rate is only a little higher at 45%.

SecretDreamsOP14d ago

California and WA are similar in income distributions to what I quoted. Seattle is more extreme. Very affluent at the top.

Can't comment how total tax in Germany might compare to the current discussion.

rayiner14d ago

> California and WA are similar in income distributions to what I quoted

Yes, but Washington’s proposed income tax is extremely skewed, while California’s is pretty flat.

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