What does "underinsured" mean in the US?

[tayser]

What about pension deductions? I thought Australia had substantial compulsory pension deductions. No Employment Insurance either, or is it rolled into income taxes?

Of course, these comparisons fail to take into account sales taxes and excise taxes. I think NY would have an edge on Ontario with these taken into account.

don't have any specific pension tax, because everyone earns superannuation which is on top of your gross wage.

i.e the examples have been $40k p/a. If you earned that in Australia, you'd actually have a package of $43,900 - because the extra 9% is your mandatory superannuation contributions your employer pays into your super fund. Some employers might offer extra super as an incentive (i.e they pay 15%), regardless whatever you earn - $15k working at McDonalds at the age of 15 or a salaried CEO of an ASX listed company, your employer must pay 9% on top of your gross earnings every year.

It's a scheme concocted 30 odd years ago to lessen the pension burden when people retire.

The main consumption tax we have is the GST - federal level, (states dont have many powers to do direct taxation - GST is 100% returned to the states from the Federal government) which is a flat 10% and doesn't apply to specific basic/necessary items, everything else attracts it.

 

[afransen]

When doing these comparisons, though, any employer contribution is essentially a tax on the individual. To make the employer pay it directly is just smoke and mirrors to make the tax burden appear smaller.

That's fascinating about states not being able to collect taxes directly. Australia must be much more centralized than Canada--the idea of provinces not collecting their own taxes is pretty foreign, since provincial governments probably collectively outspend the federal government.

 

[CodeMonkey]

The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. - Winston Churchill

For awhile now I've been trying to find a way to sum up the chaos of the town hall health care debate and I think this sums it up.

 

[Brandon716]

holy sh!tcakes, I actually pay less tax than someone from NY / ON?

Australia-wide (income tax is federal - doesn't exist at a state level):

Gross Monthly Earnings: $3,333.00
Tax Applicable: $503.00
Less Tax offsets: $0.00
Less Medicare Levy Adjustment: $0.00 [*** if you earn over $50k and don't have Private Health insurance, you pay an extra 1.5% in Medicare "Loading"]
Tax Withheld : $503.00
Net Pay: $2,830.00

inside the $503 monthly includes the 1% Medicare levy that all taxpayers pay.

I pay a further $64 for private health cover per month - I use it for items such as Optical (get $150 for frames and $120 for lenses every calendar year - eye check ups are bulk billed (paid for by Medicare - i.e. free)), Physio (health fund pays approx 70% of the consultation - my out of pocket expense is only $15 per visit), General Dental (free check up & clean every 6 months, fund pays about 50-60% of the cost for standard fillings and they'll pay 40-50% of the cost of things like getting Crowns/Root Canals etc) - and my cover has added bonuses which I can use on natural consultations or top up limits in other areas - and naturally there's the hospital cover (in public or private hospitals)....

But at the end of the day, you would never be put through the ringer like you were re: that rejection letter - that's utterly shambolic that you pay these stooges money every month and you get sweet fuck all in return.

I guess you are correct.

This chart doesn't also include local income taxes. Here in Pittsburgh we pay something like 1.5% extra income tax to the local government. New York City also has a tax but I have no idea what the rate is. Next door I know Cleveland, Columbus, Cincy have local taxes but I don't think its over 1% local income tax.

Some states don't levy local or state income or sales taxes... New Hampshire is an example, but they have exorbitant property taxes and other local taxes/fees.

In Canada I know municipalities aren't allowed to levy local income taxes like here in the US, but they offset that with a higher sales tax via the Federal GST.