This tropical city-state of 5 million people stands out as a model of low taxes, economic freedom and private property rights, or so say such U.S. organizations as the libertarian Cato Institute and the Heritage Foundation, which want to cut American tax rates and public benefits.
The reality is quite different, for beyond the posted official tax rates lies a much less visible array of what economists call implicit taxes. Singapore does not have the kind of government openness that many Americans take for granted. Add the obvious taxes to the implicit ones and you get a high tax society, especially for affluent wage-earners with no capital income. Full story
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Singapore tax myths: David Cay Johnston - The Malaysian Insider
