/spits coffee /Stares at paycheck 40% tax for everything over 42K... Damn! EDIT: some quick maths shows that someone earning 100K would take home 12K more per year if they lived in the US.The top federal income tax rate in the United States is 39.6%, with a threshold of about $415,000 in income for a single filer.
What's really going to bake your noodle is a concept called "maximum taxable earnings." If you make up to $118,500 a year, you pay 7.6% of your earnings to social security. If you make 118,600 a year, you pay 7.6% of 118,500. If you make $118,500,000.00 a year, you pay 7.6% of $118,500.00. When you hear about social security going bankrupt? Yeah, pretty easy fix.
Check out our USC http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/money_and_tax/tax/income_tax/universal_social_charge.html Which is 8% of your gross salary if you earn 100K before they take the other 21/42% PAYE tax. Essentially half your salary goes to tax... It makes for interesting conversations when my US based co-workers make the occasional gripe about salary or cost of living, my heart bleeds for them.