“This is a by-product of a Value Added Tax (VAT)”
More accurately, it is a by-product of overly generous welfare states financed by VATs. If these nations didn’t spend so much, they wouldn’t need VAT in the first place. Of course, a VAT makes it way easier to gradually ratchet up rates without being noticed, so cause and effect actually run in both directions.
A good point. A VAT in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing (at least it’s a flat tax, if also a hidden one), but when combined with a progressive income tax it’s particularly pernicious.