High Taxes Repel Talented Danes

(Copenhagen, Denmark) One reality that nanny-state leftists fail to grasp is that confiscatory tax policies have far-reaching consequences. In the case of Denmark where the marginal income tax for top-earners is a reported 63 percent, talented Danes are motivated to leave the country.

And that's exactly what Danes are doing, going to less-oppressive circumstances.

The Confederation of Danish Industries estimated in August that the Danish labor force had shrunk by about 19,000 people through the end of 2005, because Danes and others had moved elsewhere.

Other studies suggest that about 1,000 people leave the country each year, a figure that masks an outflow of qualified Danes and an inflow of less skilled foreign workers who help, at least partially, to offset the losses.

As citizens of the European Union, Danes can easily work in any one of 27 countries and most are more tax-friendly than Denmark.

The number of people departing Denmark may seem insignificant until one considers that the nation only has a population of 5.5 million and the top talent are the workers who are leaving.

In summary, high income taxes repel talented workers.

Tip: slwlion