The Quality of Life — Tax Conundrum
Countries across the world are judged and rated on a lot of factors. Some of them being GDP (Gross Domestic Product) or the Happiness Index. While GDP is a development factor which reveals the standing of the country and its citizen. Factors like Happiness Index reveal how the citizens are coping with their happy or sad situation in their land. There is one missing factor which a lot of people ignore but realizing its value when the going gets tough and they see the greener side of the grass. That is Quality of Life. It is very qualitative and cannot be measured, but this is slowly becoming an important factor for the people in choosing the place they want to reside apart from monetary benefits and other amenities.
What is Quality of Life?
Here is no clear definition but it consists of the kind of life a person is living in their comfort and the value for money they may be getting for the taxes they are paying. It is very subjective and can vary from person to person, but some basic things include cleanliness, availability of public transport, conducive weather to reside, breathable air (yes, every place has breathable air, but this is more from a context of pollution) and finally being satisfied in the place you live.
The list can be endless, but there is a need to define a quality-of-life index to have a direct correlation with the tax that the citizens may be paying. There are various indices indicating the quality of life, but the best measurement would be against the tax that is paid. Let’s assess some examples to judge how the quality-of-life maps to the tax and whether justice is being done to the citizens. We will take 4 countries/regions and pass on the specific verdict.
1. United States of America: The taxes are paid heavily by the citizens, but there is barely a good provision of public transport and a growing disgruntlement of the Americans against their country. The citizens are not wholly satisfied, and the quality of life is being governed by the huge paychecks that may be coming.
Verdict: High Taxes, and quality of life is mediocre
2. Middle East: The public does not have to pay any tax (which is a big win on the happiness front), but the services are available at a cost for the public. This pushes down the quality of life, but the citizens don’t complain as nothing from their hard-earned money is being extracted.
Verdict: Questionable quality of life as it is people driven and not government driven
3. India: Citizens pay taxes and there are barely any provisions for them to feel that it is value for their money. People feel comfortable with the quality of life, but the brazen weather and the constant lack of public provision make one question the quality of life.
Verdict: Low quality of life with great potential to make it jump to a greater state.
4. Europe: The citizens pay taxes, but the medical system and education system is all covered within that. The quality of life may have flaws, but it is the real deal for value for money as people focus more on valuing their live owing to a conducive atmosphere.
Verdict: Relatively high quality of life
It is time that the quality-of-life index starts getting linked to taxation rules that come into play as that will be a true reflection of how satisfied the public feels on their quality of life and directly influence the happiness index.
