丹麦人和税收：“I’m happy to pay”

当我第一次搬到丹麦，人们问我喜欢它的时候，我曾经说我喜欢这里的一切，除了天气，食物和食物。税es.

每个人都同意天气–特别是如果对话是在丹麦之一期间进行的’s 悲伤，多雨的夏天s。有些人竭尽全力捍卫丹麦美食–除了时髦的北欧美食，我们谈论的是猪肉，更多的猪肉，一点鳗鱼和一些驯鹿–在提到泰国餐馆的广泛供应之前。

But nearly everyone defended the 税es. “I’m happy to pay,” many people said. Taxes in Denmark are a sacred duty, in a society where very little is sacred. In a recent survey, 90% of Danes said it would be embarrassing to be seen as someone who does not pay their full 税 bill.

Fear the 税man

Not that cheating is any simple matter: unlike the rarely-seen 和 largely passive Danish police force, the Danish 税 authorities are ruthless 和 take no prisoners. They go so far to as use air surveillance to make sure everyone is reporting the right square footage on their real-estate 税es.

The classic 税 cheat uses cash to avoid detection, but that’在丹麦很难，那里几乎所有付款–就算是口香糖–是电子的，易于追踪。丹麦银行的许多分支机构不再接受或分配现金，并且某些餐馆也不会接受现金。

实际上，在丹麦，几乎唯一一次使用现金的时间就是某人正在处理账本。丹麦语DK100注释中也可能包含清洁女工，保姆和东欧屋顶工的照片，这些人几乎是唯一再看到它的人。

所以大多数人不’t cheat on their 税es: they pay what they have to, 和 then focus on getting as much back from the government as they can.

例如我’我要在下个月休产假。一世’我没有怀孕：我唯一的孩子是8岁。她演奏电贝司，并拥有自己的台式计算机。但是七年前，当她还蹒跚学步时，我用了整整12个月的法定时间中只有9个月了丹麦的产假。产假可以在她9岁之前的任何时候用完– which, since I’在目前的工作之间，她需要阅读方面的额外帮助– is now.

我在利用系统吗？也许是这样，但请记住，我’ve been paying 60% income 税 (the infamous ‘topskat’) 和 25% sales 税 for nearly 13 years now. I see it as a form of 税 refund.

丹麦人和税收

At any rate, while it would be a stretch to say that Danish people love 税es, they certainly don’t seem to mind them.

与美国或英国不同，您通常可以看到自己的’re getting for your money: the streets are clean, the buses are on time, 和 lines of rosy-cheeked of Danish children file through the streets holding hands, supervised 通过 their 税-subsidized daycare providers.

大学是免费的（如果您能获得学位的话），健康护理是免费的（一旦您进入等候名单的首位），政府办的学校也很体面，即使私立学校在有能力的人中很受欢迎。

也许吧’所有的语言技巧：“tax”丹麦语（skat）中的单词也表示“darling” 要么 “sweetheart.”On playgrounds, you’会听到慈爱的父母呼唤他们的孩子：“税！记得戴上手套。”In trains, you’会发现恋人在电话里窃窃私语，“I miss you, Tax. I’ll be home soon.”

Yes, in many ways, Danes have a truly affectionate relationship with their 税es.

收听我们所有的“如何在丹麦生活”播客 Spotify 和on 苹果播客（iTunes）.