Good point. Actually we're not complaining about our high tax rates. It's just that we do not benefit from the state no more. As someone running my own business since 1999 and work as a freelancer, I never paid into the german social net. So I have no expectations there, have a private health insurance, take care for my pension by saving and investing and cover most risks with private insurance. That's fine, because it was my choice. The point is, that from a certain income your income tax get's crazily high. Combined with other taxes everyone else also pays I end up working for taxes around 70% of my time. That WOULD be ok, if the state / government at least provided me with working infra and services, if kids care would be ok'ish (as promised), school standards were high (they once were) and infra like public transport, railway and air transport were not foo'd up beyond repair. I can accept poor conditions, if my taxes are low and I can save / invest for my pension. I can also accept good conditions and therefor high taxes. In Germany it's high taxes and bad conditions ... at least for us.
>In Germany it's high taxes and bad conditions ... at least for us.
You're well off, you're earning a lot, you're privileged enough to be able to travel often and to a lot of places, some quite far away. You're in position where you can basically freely choose where to live next, by the sound of it.
One of the foundations of Germany is the principle of solidarity and that owning property bears social responsibility. That means that people who earn and possess more than others may and most often do have to contribute more to society than others. Or in simple terms, as you earn and own more, you're benefitting less from "the system".
Just want to make it clear that this is by design..
You'll most probably find a place that will make your personal life objectively easier, i.e. taking less money from your paycheck.
While I agree with you on a fundamental level, this social contract is currently in the process of being eroded. A household with 60k gross income is part of the top 20% in terms of income. In a lot of parts in Germany today, this is insufficient to accumulate property if you want to have kids.
Pensioners are taking an ever bigger cut of the cake, both due to their rising numbers, but also relatively speaking. As a relatively young person with a good salary, it becomes ever more attractive to just emigrate, and this will lead to a pretty bad cycle Germany is ill-prepared to deal with.
The problem is that your stances on these impact recommendations. Are you taxed too high and think the social safety net costs too much?
Or do you need the social safety net and are complaining about rich people not paying?