You know there's no hope when...

...even a non-socialist government is happy to keep the second heaviest tax burden in the world. So ladies and gentlemen, this years general elections are basically a choice between either high taxes and restriction of your personal freedom, or high taxes and restriction of your personal freedom.

Hmm...this'll be a tough one.

Of course being an immigrant I can't really complain, can I? I could always move along when things get too rough.

A moron without a cause

Centerpartiet politician Fredrick "It wasn't me" Federley seems to get away with literally anything. The latest news on this buffoon is that he's letting the taxpayers pay his taxi bills. No, not just taxi to and from work, but rather late-night trips to and from pubs and nightclubs, labelled "meetings" on his expense reimbursment. Sure, I guess they're meetings of some kind, although not of a very political nature... My personal "favorite" is this:

Efter två timmar hemma hämtas han av en taxi som kör honom till en adress i en söderförort klockan 04.52. En timme senare, 05.40, är han hemma igen efter ännu en taxiresa.
”Övrigt”, står det på taxiräkningen. 

I guess there were no labels for "Casual sex on taxpayer's expense".

The really sad part here is that apparently Federley is recommended to use taxis as his primary means of transportation for security reasons. The problem is, this complete moron uses all kinds of social media to let everybody know where he is and what he's doing at every given moment, which kind of ruins the whole security argument.

Photo: Politikerbloggen/private

Telia charging for an encrypted experience

There are few things that annoy me as much as outrageous fees and taxes. Road tolls on old narrow roads, additional "recreation fees" on top of the $250 a night you pay at that resort, and here's another one for you:

My cable provider Telia has the nerve to charge me 500 SEK per year in encryption fees! Yes, they are in fact charging me, the customer, for crippling their own service with encryption making it impossible for me to watch the cable channels on more than one TV at a time. Unless I buy a second decryption card, which will incur other fees, of course.

This is just as ridiculous as having Skatteverket (the Swedish equivalent to the IRS) sending me an invoice together with my tax return to cover the costs of processing it.

P.S. Yes, I know this is a common practice among TV providers, but that doesn't mean it's not outrageous.

Ban studded winter tires and brakes

Miljöpartiet, that bunch of no-good tree-huggers who are only out to make life more miserable for the average Swede, or so it seems, have announced that they would like a ban on studded winter tires in the entire city of Stockholm. Apparently creating chaos on just one street isn't enough.

What these morons fail to realize though is that car brakes, when used, emit an equal amount of polluting particles. So why not simply ban the use of car brakes as well, while you're at it? If any motorist is observed using the brakes he or she should be presented with a shockingly high fine, as well as a damn good beating. That'll teach those bastards to pollute the fresh Stockholm air.

Or you could do the smart thing and introduce a tax for using studded tires, making it possible for those who need such tires to actually travel to Stockholm without stopping along the way to change tires - provided they pay the mandatory studded tire tax. That way the use of studded tires will decline, the city will make some money out of it, and we won't be plagued by yet another stupid ban.

You want some plague to go with that cholera?

The upcoming general election in Sweden is already turning into quite a bizarre spectacle, with 5 months left of campaigning.

The socialist coalition are working incredibly hard on ruining people's economy, making what kan only be defined as threats to increase taxed across the board should they be elected:

• Increased income tax (as if 56,7 percent isn't enough...)
• Increase fuel taxes (because clearly, in an effort to make it less profitable to work only raising the income tax isn't enough, the actual travel to work should also be punished!)
• Increase the payroll tax (you didn't think only the employee should be punished for working, did you?)
• Increase alcohol and tobacco taxes (God forbid you should be allowed to enjoy a drink after a hard day's labour)
• Restore the hopelessly outdated wealth tax (making sure companies as well as people move their wealth abroad - we don't want those rich bastards living in socialist Sweden!)
• Restore the arbitary and unfair housing tax (also known as the "Stockholm tax", because obviously it should be considered a crime to live in or near such an expensive city and spend all your money on that several million kronor mortgage)
• Introduce a new "energy" tax on the horribly polluting hydropower (well, actually the reasoning seems to be that the energy companies have a healthy profit, and the socialist coalition feels its only natural to introduce special taxes to get a bigger share of that profit - I guess a phone company tax, a lawyer tax or a property broker tax is next, and we all know who will get the bill in the end - the consumers)

Meanwhile the non-socialist coalition, "Alliansen", are hell-bent on finding new ways to strip the public of the last shreds of personal integrity and freedom:

• Random drug tests in school (clearly giving the police mandate to perform drug tests on kids without parent's permission wasn't enough)
• Publishing pictures of suspected criminals (because apparently the stigmata of sending purple letters to the families of suspected sex buyers wasn't enough...)

Not to mention all the disgusting laws that have been passed already during the last 4 years.

Of course, the socialists aren't friends of freedom and integrity either, supporting the new and oppressive laws that have been passed during the non-socialist government, the FRA-law, the data retention directive and the Ipred-law. They've even suggested every kid in school should get a "personal police officer" watching over them, making sure they don't do any mistakes (you know, being out partying on a Saturday night), and accepting any incriminating information they might have on other kids, in effect creating a society based on fear and squealing.

So the question is really, would you like some plague to go with that cholera, or is cholera enough? I'd like neither, thank you so much.

I noticed blogger Ravenna shares my views on some of this insanity. A post well worth reading.

Tree-huggers without visions

Few things annoy me more than "environmentalists" who are unable to look further than the tip of their nose. One of these dumb tree-huggers, Mårten Wallenberg at Naturskyddsföreningen, lashes out at road investments, and insists that instead of building a smarter and sustainable road infrastructure we should be taxing the motorists to death, only allowing the wealthiest of Stockholmers to utilize a car in order to fulfill their daily transportation needs, whatever these may be:

– Förbifarten löser inte Stockholms trafikproblem. För att komma ned på en rimlig nivå när det gäller köer och framkomlighet räknar vi med att trängselavgifterna måste fördubblas till 2030, säger Mårten Wallberg.

Looking at a 20 year perspective I have to ask, what exactly is Wallberg so afraid of? Is it the mere sight of cars in and around the city that offends him? Is it the thought that people will be able to manage their time in a more efficient way? It can't be the pollution, because surely no-one in their right mind thinks that gasoline and diesel will be the prime means of propulsion in 2030, considering the massive technological advances that have been made in environmentally friendly fuels over just the last few years?

So why exactly is it you want to deny the less wealthy citizens of Stockholm the right to drive their zero-emissions car to and from work, kindergarten or the grocery store, Wallberg? Stop talking nonsense and focus your energy on how we can get the infrastructure in place to support the current environmentally friendly fuels, like biogas.

Moderaterna party election campaign: More surveillance and higher taxes

Apparently Moderaterna, the Moderate party in Sweden, are prepared to throw their single selling point down the drain, with minister of finance Anders Borg being prepared to raise taxes:

"Det finns starka skäl att överväga skattehöjningar", säger finansministern.

And my personal favorite:

Höjda skatter är avgörande för att behålla en stabil ekonomi i framtiden, framhöll Borg. Och att ett normalt skattetryck för Sverige bör ligga på 35-45 procent av BNP.

In other words, being the most heavily taxed country in the world is the recipe for a stable financial growth. That's certainly new coming from Moderaterna.

Areas that will be affected if Moderaterna get their way is, among others, a "green" tax on CO2 emission (like we don't have enough of these already), even higher taxes on tobacco and alcohol, and certainly no further tax relief on the unfair housing tax (better known as the "Stockholm tax"). The common denominator for all these taxes are that they are not in any way related to your actual income or wealth, meaning they strike people with lesser money much harder than those with more money. Very nice, Borg, that's gonna win you the Östermalm and Djursholm votes, at least.

So my question is quite simply, how exactly do Moderaterna expect to win the elections when they're throwing away the only political issue that separates them from the red and green coalition: A healthy and manageable tax level for people as well as businesses? The way things are looking today they might as well join this red and green coalition, making it a rainbow coalition and front it with the following slogan:

The rainbow coalition: More surveillance and higher taxer - for a safer and healthier society.

The Berlin Wall - coming to a city near you

Apparently Gothenburg motorists are next in line to be subdued by the Berlin Wall of traffic, the road tolls. This abomination is striking arbitrary and with no regard to people's personal economy, and is providing yet another means of surveillance for the government. All in the name of making money. Tons of money.

I've said it again, and I'll gladly repeat it: Have a look at what's in store for you Swedes now that the pandora's box has been opened with the "congestion charges" in Stockholm.


Yes, this is a map of road tolls in Norway, with tons more tolls being built as we speak. And if you're interested in why road tolls are the work of the devil, read my post about it here.

Sweden turning into Norway

The introduction of the road tolls in Stockholm in 2006 sure opened pandoras box. Or the gates to hell, depending on you point of view. We've already seen the city of Gothenburg eager to plague their motorists with a similar toll ring system. Tolls will be collected on E4 near Sundsvall. Road toll plans have popped up regarding the new Skurubron in Värmdö and now even more road tolls are planned on E4, this time outside Örnsköldsvik.

All this because the 70 billion kronor that Swedish motorists annually pay in various car-related taxes apparently isn't enough to pay for a bit of road here and there...

I'm sad to say this country is turning into Norway fast. And no, I'm not talking about the oil, if only it were that well. I'm talking about punishing the motorists in every way possible. You guys who have ever had the "pleasure" of going to Norway by car know what I'm talking about (and you probably think twice before going back). And for the rest of you, have a good look at what's in store for you:


Looks nice, doesn't it? Norwegian motorists will pay almost 6 billion NOK in road tolls this year, half of it wasted on administration costs. We might as well just give Vägverket our credit card and let them charge us at will, because this toll road hell is exactly what awaits us if the current politicians get to decide. Bloody leaches.

Miljöpartiet wants your money

Miljöpartiet (Mp) needs money to finance their highly hypothetical national budget. They've already promised their miserable, masochist voters higher income taxes, but obviously that's not enough. Now they want to increase the fuel taxes as well, which will add another 2 kronor on the petrol price.

My only question is why? It sure as hell isn't to save the environment. Today the first generation of "environment cars", miljöbilar, are already up to an impressive 37 percent market share, up 20 percent from last year. These cars are boring as hell, with tiny diesel engines (Volvo DRIVe) or poor handling (Toyota Prius), but people are still buying them - to contribute to the environment and to save money on fuel, on toll charges and on the company car taxation.

When plug-in hybrids hit the market around 2012 or so I suspect the environmental car market share will increase significantly. Seeing as these cars will cover most of their daily driving without burning as much as a liter of fuel not only will they make the fuel price less relevant, they will also contribute to less local pollution. Let us not forget that this second generation of environmentally friendly cars will also be bigger, perform better, and be more suited for a broader public.

And after the plug-in hybrid era perhaps we've got pure electric cars waiting around the corner? Powered by some new battery technology or by hydrogen? All I know is that the research is moving away from the traditional fossil fuel combustion engines fast, and that there is absolutely no sense in pestering the regular car owners with an increased fuel tax at this point. We're simply waiting for an environmentally friendly car that can suit our needs, ok? If anything go bother the car manufacturers to increase their R&D speed.

My guess is that Miljöpartiet is suggesting this moronic tax increase to satisfy their bitter, car-hating core voters. There simply is no other explanation.

Socialists don't work

Only 43% of socialist voters in Sweden feel the current politics are to their advantage, which leads me to the conclusion that most socialist voters don't like to work, they prefer to sit on their ass and cash in that social security check every month.

Of course it's upsetting for them to see people who actually make their own money getting to keep a bit more of their paycheck, while their own welfare benefits are shrinking and they are increasingly forced to get out into that cold, estranged world of work.

Recreation my ass

I don't know about you, but I find few things are as annoying as having to pay fees for every stupid thing you do or don't do. I find mandatory fees on top of something I've already purchased particularly fascinating - and stupid. Unfortunately the Americans have refined this fee-policy into an art form. Where else would you stay at a hotel and be charged a mandatory recreation fee of $15 a day upon check-out??? I mean, what the hell is a recreation fee anyway? A "thank you for letting me borrow a sundeck chair and a towel, and have access to the pool, obviously such a service couldn't be included in the $150 a night room rate"-fee? Why not have a room rate of $165, since this completely insane fee is mandatory anyway - recreation or not?

Add this to the ridiculous additional car hire fees and insurances (that are often not included in your booking price, and need to be paid at the counter when picking up the car), the annoying habit of never including sales tax on the price tags, and of course the fluctuating exchange rate of the dollar, and it all makes planning that US vacation a real pain in the ass.

Sweden on top of the world

Congratulations fellow Swedes, by the beginning of 2010 we'll be the country in the world with the heaviest tax burden, with a marginal tax rate of a whopping 56,7 percent! Now that's really something. In fact only 5 other countries in the world are part of this exclusive "50%+" club.

Of course confiscating over half of people's income isn't enough for social democratic opposition leader Mona Sahlin, who has already promised she will continue increasing the income-, wealth- and housing taxes, all in the name of decreasing the differences between rich and poor. Sure, I get that. After all, why should a hard-working, tax-paying citizen have more money to spend than a person living on welfare? Why should it pay to work at all?

In fact, I can't see any reason to stop at 56,7 percent. It would probably be best just to confiscate 100 percent of people's income and then redistribute it equally so that no one is left behind.

Socialdemokraterna - a success story

The Social democratic party, Socialdemokraterna, are not gaining any popularity in Stockholm, quite the contrary. Why, you might wonder? I think Socialdemokraterna's election manifesto speaks for itself:

We're gonna tax you Stockholmers to death.

Way to go. This strategy has left them with what is still a surprisingly high support in Stockholm, with roughly 20% of the voters claiming they would give their vote to these buffoons in the upcoming elections. Half of these are obviously the unemployed, who plan to stay unemployed for an extended period of time and would like their unemployment benefit to increase. The other half are just idiots.

Wasting taxpayer's money

No wonder the Swedes have one of the highest tax burdens in Europe when you start looking at how careless money is spent throughout the public administration.

I particularly love the fact that the morons at Skatteverket don't have a clue how much an e-mail system migration will cost, let alone how much money they will potentially, although not very likely, save on this migration some time in the future:

Hur mycket hela migreringen kommer att kosta - och vilka besparingar som kan göras - är ännu inte klart.

I'll give them a hint. We're probably talking of a migration cost somewhere in the 50-70 million SEK area. At best.

I'm also fascinated by the fact that Skatteverket is completely ignoring the intention that the authorities should strive for open standards when choosing IT solutions, and that these morons instead choose to "standardize" on a vendor which products are notoriously proprietary and unable to collaborate with any other product out there.

Furthermore, Skatteverket is complaining that their current system is way too expensive. Well of course it is, since you stupid bastards are paying through your nose for way more products than you need:

• Microsoft Office 2003 för ordbehandling, presentationer och kalkyler.
• Microsoft Sharepoint Portal Server för dokumenthantering och delar av intranätet.
• Senselogic Sitevision som content management system.
• Lotus Notes/Domino för brev, kalender, rumsbokning och intranät. Ska migreras till Microsoft Exchange och MOSS.
• Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 för chat och enklare videokonferens.

As far as I know, new versions of Lotus Notes include Lotus Symphony which is an office product based on OpenOffice.org. That would enable any sane organization to throw out at least most of the MS Office licenses, and save a lot of money there. The product can also be downloaded separately, and completely free of charge, so users can install it at home as well.

Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 seems like complete overkill if all they need it for is "simple video conferencing". After all, a limited Sametime license is included with Lotus Notes, so they already have chat and awareness included in their Lotus licenses.

And do they need both Domino and Sharepoint for their intranet? I'm sure they could get cheaper Domino licenses if they only used it for mail (which is complete insanity if you ask me, but still...), and not for applications. Or they could use Domino for document management and the intranet, and skip those Sharepoint licenses. Either way a lot of money could be saved.

So, dear Swedes, this is where your tax money ends up. Down the drain. I just hope that Microsoft-sponsored all-inclusive family vacation to the Maldives was worth it for whoever made this astonishingly ignorant decision.

E-delegationen ska i sitt arbete sträva efter att den offentliga förvaltningens e-tjänster i så stor utsträckning som möjligt ska bygga på öppna standarder, använda sig av programvara som bygger på öppen källkod samt sträva efter lösningar som stegvis frigör förvaltningen från beroendet av enskilda plattformar och lösningar.

Riiiight.

The red-green coalition kick off their election campaign

The three parties forming the red-green coalition, Socialdemokraterna, Vänsterpartiet and Miljöpartiet, kicked off their election campaign today by announcing that if they win the election next year, they promose to - in good socialist manner - re-introduce the ridiculously unfair housing tax, and thus seeing to it that only the filthy rich will be allowed to inhabit a house with a taxable value of over 4,5 million SEK (which means quite a lot of the properties in the Stockholm region...). Good on them. I mean, who cares about the old grandmother who's lived in that big old house in Lidingö her whole life? About bloody time she sold it and moved to a nursing home, isn't it?

Funnily enough the tax on apartments is suggested to be lowered. So the big picture here is that those who don't make a fortune shouldn't live in houses, they should sell it and settle for an apartment. Preferably a small, grey, boring one in a depressing suburb. Nice, socialist way of thinking.

Brilliant work, guys. You're sure to gain votes on this one!

Dumb, dumber

It looks like Socialist democratic politicians Tomas Östros and Carin Jämtin are still trying to make people believe that a 1% annual tax on the estimated value of a property is better than a 0,5% annual interest rate on the actual profit from a property sale.

So, you sell your house with a profit of 1.000.000 SEK. You can either pay the 22% tax on this profit right away, and have 780.000 SEK left, or you can postpone this tax and pay an annual interest rate of 0,5%, around 5000 SEK, until you actually pay that 22% tax, at which time you stop paying the annual interest rate.

Or you can go with Östros' and Jämtin's system, which gives you a tax rate of 1% of a property's estimated value. Live in a home some bureaucrat has estimated to be worth 3.000.000 SEK, and pay 30.000 SEK annually in property tax. Of course, you will still have to pay a 22% tax on the profit when you sell, although you will be able to postpone it without paying interest rates.

Now, which of these would you rather pay (none, obviously, but given the choice between plague and cholera...)?

Dual tax returns

Yes, it's that time of the year again, and I'm getting fed up filing these dual tax returns - one to my home country, where I haven't lived or had any income for three years, and one to Sweden. Why can't we agree on a nice and simple law stating that you file your tax return in your country of residence and/or where you happen to have your income? Why does my home country insist on knowing exactly how much money I've made in Sweden last year and how much tax I've paid?

Stop bothering me, you bastards!