[expertentipp]

Yeah my eyes are bulging every time I find a job posting based in Brussels or Antwerp and then quickly run some gross-net simulations online. Whait... what?! Over 50% monthly on contributions and taxes? What the fucking fuck?! Employees of EU and other institutions have generous exempts and privileges, otherwise I have no idea what might be the motivation of a person employed in Belgium.

[vidarh]

Looking at the OECD data, one thing that is striking is that Belgium "rejoins the pack" if you look at the tax burden for a two-parent single-earner family.

Looking at the list (OECD Taxing Wages), I'm going to hazard a guess that it's a cultural/religious thing - it looks like the drop in the average tax rate as a proportion of household income for a single-earner vs. the same income for a single person is far greater in countries with a significant proportion of Catholics.