Posted on 10/15/2015 11:27:28 PM PDT by WilliamIII
Russia gets a bad press. Literally. In fact Western media coverage of Russia is almost always extremely negative. That would be excusable if it was mostly accurate, but in fact it’s usually blatantly wrong. The reality of Russia is far removed from the fiction that we’re meant to believe. As investors, understanding the difference is essential. Here are just some of the surprising things about Russia that you probably don’t know.
In no particular order…
Russia has a flat rate of tax on personal income of just 13%. This compares with top rates of personal income tax of 45% in Australia, China, Germany and the UK, amongst others. The USA is slightly lower, at 39.6%, but that excludes state and local income taxes which can add a lot (Californians pay over 50% top rate). Chances are you pay more tax than the average Russian.
(Excerpt) Read more at russia-insider.com ...
“Russia has a flat rate of tax on personal income of just 13%”
Exactly. And some idiots claim that they are still communists.
If you want to see communism just take a look at Bernie Sanders tax plan.
Too bad Russia isn’t located a couple of thousand miles closer to the tropics;)
If you want to see communism just take a look at Bernie Sanders tax plan.
John McCain fought against the Bush tax cuts.
So do the Chinese...
Well, here are some more facts about Putin's Russia:
Russia's population is more than twice that of Italy, yet Italy's GDP far exceeds that of Russia. In fact, Italy's GDP per capita is seven times that of Russia. Italy!
Mexico has a higher GDP per capita than Putin's Russia. Mexico!
Male life expectancy in Russia is 61 years. In Bangladesh, male life expectancy is 67 years.
Putin's Russia is a disaster.
I could live with Russia’s pro-freedom tax rates! Even Steve Forbes said we should follow their example.
The Soviet Union was the disaster. You don’t recover from that kind of socialistic experimentation overnight.
Wait until you see how long it takes US to recover from an admittedly less onerous but every bit as comprehensive a plan of progressive social experimentation. It will take us decades.
At least Russia is headed in the right direction.
13% tax rate...
That’s high in comparison to low wage earners in the U.S.
Communism isn’t defined through taxation.
Geez, when I read something like that, I really have to wonder where people are getting their information. The Russian economy has been deteriorating for some time now.
Even Mexico passed Russia by some time ago. I don't know why some people suddenly want to believe that Putin is doing a good job, but he's almost certainly going to continue to disappoint people. Well, I guess I should amend that to say that people who can be disappointed will continue to be disappointed. Those people who want so badly to believe in Putin that they can't see reality will probably always be happy with him. He'd better hope that there is lot of people like that.
Russian businesses pay 18% VAT and 20% profit tax. Self-employed people pay 6% though.
There are also property (0.3%-2% while the properties' book values are lower than the market ones - in most cases) and road taxes.
Is the total really better than in other countries?
If you add comparable payments by our employers - and extra charges to workers as well, our overall rates are still much higher
There’s no communist country with low taxes. The word means communal ownership - what you earn belongs to everybody
I don't think I'm ever going to hear Steve Forbes say that Putin is doing a good job of managing Russia's economy. I can't imagine anyone saying that.
People need to start asking themselves why they want to believe things like that. You really have to be very strongly motivated to believe that Putin has been a good manager. People should just look at Russia's GDP figures for the past 15 years. That's all you would have to do.
Putin and his gangster friends have been looting the country for years. How can anyone want to defend that kind of leadership? It's really a remarkable phenomenon.
So there’s no confusion, I posted: “Communism isn’t defined through taxation.”
The point: Economic necessity doesn’t necessarily reflect the effective political constraints the average Westerner would refuse to accept.
That’s exactly right. In fact, I understand that Russia’s payroll taxes are so high that an old Soviet-era practice of giving employees off-the-books benefits like cars, apartments, and vacations in lieu of direct salaries is still common.
45%. Thank the Lesser of Two Evils Party for that.
Just you wait.
You need to get current.
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