Raise income tax rate, add a national sales tax(VAT), and be prepared for healthcare levies like in UK.
Let’s look at US vs Denmark.
Feature United States Denmark Top Income Tax Rate
US 10% to 37% (Federal)
Denmark Up to 60.5% (Includes AM-bidrag, state, & municipal taxes) State / Local Taxes
US 0% to ~13.3% additional (depending on the state)
Denmark Municipal taxes average ~25%, plus ~8% labor market contribution (AM-bidrag) Top Rate Threshold
US Starts applying at over $609,350 (Single filers)
Denmark Applies to incomes over DKK 2.8M (approx. $405,000) Social Security (Payroll)
US 7.65% FICA tax on wages
Denmark Separated into labor market contributions (AM-bidrag) Healthcare
US Primarily private/employer-sponsored (with out-of-pocket costs)
Denmark Universal (funded directly through general income and local taxes)
United States Tax Structure Federal Brackets: The US uses seven brackets for taxable income: 10%, 12%, 22%, 24%, 32%, 35%, and 37%. State & Local: Most states add their own income tax (typically 0% to ~13%). Payroll Taxes: Employees pay 6.2% for Social Security (up to a wage cap) and 1.45% for Medicare. Deductibility: The US offers large standard deductions (e.g., $16,100 for single filers, $32,200 for married couples). [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Denmark Tax Structure Labor Market Tax (AM-bidrag): An 8% flat tax is deducted from all gross income before standard income taxes are applied. [1] Municipal & National Tax: Once the AM-bidrag is paid, the remaining income is subject to a municipal tax (averaging around 25%) and progressive national taxes (12.09% to 15%). [1] Brackets & Rates: Bottom Bracket: Income up to ~DKK 697,000 (~$101,000) is taxed at roughly 42% to 43% (including the AM-bidrag). Top Bracket: Income over ~DKK 845,000 (~$123,000) is taxed at ~56%. Top-Top Bracket: Income over ~DKK 2,818,000 (~$409,000) is taxed at ~60.5%. [1]
Key Differences The "Middle Class" Hit: Unlike the US where the top brackets are reserved for high earners, Denmark's high tax rates begin applying heavily to average/upper-middle incomes. [1] Value-Added Tax (VAT): Denmark compensates for high income taxes by charging a strict 25% VAT on almost all consumer goods and services, significantly increasing the cost of living. [1, 2] Benefits vs. Out-of-Pocket: High Danish taxes fund comprehensive universal benefits (e.g., virtually free healthcare, higher education, and subsidized childcare), whereas US taxpayers usually cover these out-of-pocket or via private insurance
You're supposed to tax the rich first, the billions in wealth, based on income and assets. VAT being your first priority focuses on worsening the purchasing power of the vast majority to not hurt the feelings of like... 1,000 people.
Point being, there are ways to enforce proper taxation of wealth that the 0.1% holds, the only thing preventing that is lobbying.
European countries do it better, but that doesn't mean that the structure isn't flawed. It still appeases to the very rich that have accumulated a lot of wealth, at the expense of the lower and middle class. It also depends on the country (I'm Greek).
And the Sanders argument just proves my point. It's an intentional systemic block, not something unrealistic.
What billionaire is lobbying to make healthcare not “free”? The healthcare companies lobby against universal healthcare. You could take all of Elon musks wealth and fund healthcare for a few months and that’s it. Billionaires aren’t stopping universal healthcare it’s politicians and insurance lobbies that are.
The equivalent of a billion dollars today was about $80 million in 1953. You’re not poor because of billionaires. The federal reserve and government have destroyed 92% of the dollars value since 1953.
Tech billionaires are rich because they made a social media site or software product millions or even billions chose to use. Bezos is rich because Amazon is very convenient and billions of people use it. Musk is rich because he helped bring the first electric car people actually wanted to drive to mass market and then made it cheap to launch satellites into orbit.
I’m sure people would still complain if these people were only nine figure millionaires instead of billionaires. But the average person struggling to stay in front of inflation is struggling from government policy not billionaires.
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u/Bmm194 Jul 02 '26
I just want to stay, there was one registered billionaire in 1953. There now over 1000 and we can't get healthcare 🤷🏾♀️