In a bizarre story disclosed over the weekend, we learned that Belgium’s Princess Astrid was robbed by two assailants on a motorbike.
The thieves apparently approached her while she was sitting in traffic, smashed in her window, snatched the Royal Handbag, and sped off with over 2,000 euros in cash.
I have no doubt that was a harrowing experience for the princess, as it would be for anyone.
But as I researched a bit more, I learned that Belgium’s royal family is lavishly paid, particularly for a small country of just 11 million people.
King Philippe of Belgium receives more than 10 million euros per year. His father, the ‘retired’ king receives a pension of nearly 1 million euros annually.
Princess Astrid, the King’s sister, receives about 300,000 euros per year, in addition to usage rights of the royal properties.
In order to pay for this largesse, Belgium suffers some of the highest tax rates in the world, as high as 50% if you earn even a modest income.
In addition there’s 13% employee contributions to Social Security (plus employer contributions of 35%), and a Value-Added Tax of 21%.
Businesses in Belgium are subject to a 30% corporate tax rate, a 3% ‘crisis surcharge’, and my personal favorite, a 5% ‘fairness tax’.
In total the Belgian government’s tax revenue eats up about 45% of GDP, which means that the government takes almost half of all economic output.
This is an astounding figure… though it’s less than other governments in Europe like France or Denmark.
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