Good Neighbor Insurance, www.gninsurance.com, provides international health and travel insurance to US citizens residing and traveling outside the US as well as non-US citizens living and traveling outside their country of citizenship.  

Good Neighbor Insurance keeps our clients informed of not only US health care changes and international health care changes but also with how other countries provide health care cover to their citizens.   Most of the European countries have national health care where all those living in that country pay through the national tax system.  Europeans are also able to purchase private health care cover which provides stronger coverage and also allows for quicker access to health care facilities.  Below is the 2010 tax rates for some of the countries in Europe.

VAT = Value Added Tax

Definition 1: Value added tax or VAT is an indirect tax, which is imposed on goods and services at each stage of production, starting from raw materials to final product. VAT is levied on the value additions at different stages of production. VAT is widely applied in the European countries. However, now a number of countries across the globe have adopted this tax system.

Definition 2:  A value added tax (VAT) is a form of consumption tax. It is a tax on the estimated market value added to a product or material at each stage of its manufacture or distribution, ultimately passed on to the consumer. It differs from a sales tax, which is levied only at the point of purchase.

Note:  These income rates are for those in the middle high to high income brackets.  However the VAT is for all purchases.

Current European tax rates:

Denmark:   Income Tax:  58%  VAT:  25%      TOTAL:  83% 

Finland:  Income Tax:  53%  VAT:  22%      TOTAL:  75%

France:  Income Tax:  40%  VAT:  19.6%   TOTAL:  59.6%

Greece:   Income Tax:  40%  VAT:  25%      TOTAL:  65%

Netherlands:  Income Tax:  52%   VAT:  19%      TOTAL:  71%

Norway:  Income Tax:  54.3%  VAT:  25%      TOTAL:  79.3%

Portugal:   Income Tax:  42%   VAT:  20%      TOTAL:  62%

Spain:  Income Tax:  45%   VAT:  16%      TOTAL:  61%

Sweden:   Income Tax:  55%   VAT:  25%      TOTAL:  80%

United Kingdom:  Income Tax:  50%   VAT:  17.5%   TOTAL:  67.5%

Doug Gulleson loves to scuba dive overseas and makes sure he has his US health care and overseas health care information with him at all times when he travels (check out his diving travels at www.douggulleson.com).  Keep our blog close by you, www.gntravelinsurance.com , for continual updates on the changes with the US health care system.