Average Swedes pay high taxes to finance large government

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 17, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Despite common misperceptions, middle-class workers in Sweden—a country often celebrated by social democrats in Canada—pay relatively high taxes for Sweden’s large government, finds a new book published today by the Fraser Institute, an independent, non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank.“Social democrats often assert that Canada should be more like Sweden, but in reality, average Canadians are highly unlikely to accept Sweden’s high taxes,” said Swedish researcher Johan Norberg, author of *The Mirage of Swedish Socialism: The Economic History of a Welfare State*.

Sweden has a larger government than Canada. Specifically, in 2022 government spending in Sweden (as a share of the economy) was 46.8 per cent compared to 41.5 per cent in Canada.

But while Sweden’s top personal income tax rate (52.3 per cent) is comparable to Canada’s top rate (53.5 per cent), Sweden’s top tax rate applies to income starting at roughly US$62,000 compared to US$177,000 in Canada. In other words, the top personal income tax rate in Sweden applies to many average Swedish workers and families.

Moreover, Sweden’s national sales tax rate (25 per cent) dwarfs the combined federal GST and provincial sales tax rates in Canada, which range from 5 per cent in Alberta to 15 per cent in the four Atlantic provinces.

“Average Swedes pay the tax price for their large government sector,” Norberg said.

And social democrats are also unlikely to accept Sweden’s limited regulations, openness to trade, and low corporate tax rates.

Finally, according to polling data released in 2023, Canadians overwhelmingly reject higher personal income taxes and a higher GST to finance more government spending.

This book (accompanied by a website) is part of the Fraser Institute’s Realities of Socialism series.

To arrange media interviews or for more information, please contact:
Mark Hasiuk, Fraser Institute
(604) 688-0221 ext. 517
mark.hasiuk@fraserinstitute.org

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The Fraser Institute is an independent Canadian public policy research and educational organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal and ties to a global network of think-tanks in 87 countries. Its mission is to improve the quality of life for Canadians, their families and future generations by studying, measuring and broadly communicating the effects of government policies, entrepreneurship and choice on their well-being. To protect the Institute’s independence, it does not accept grants from governments or contracts for research. Visit www.fraserinstitute.org