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Comment by sputr | Hacker News Reader

Ah, the Balkans :).

Slovenia has a "sole proprietorship" system that's fantastic for IT professionals since it has standardized costs, which means in the end you pay 4% tax on any income up to 150k€.

But you also pay FIXED "social contributions" (aka. tax) for pension and healthcare since you, as an "s.p." are considered to have a minimal pay... no matter how much money you make. This is a little under 500€/month. This is due the first month you register your business.

This leads to a reducing effective tax rate - the more you make, the less you pay.

We also have no way of doing business if you can't afford the ~500€/month tax. As far as the government is concerned, everyone starting a small business just "magically" starts making enough money from month 1.

Watching ex-communists (who are still in power) trying to work this whole capitalism thing is hilarious sometimes.

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Germany is no different. Everyone is required to have health insurance(since not treating the uninsured is not an option in a humane socitey), and as a sole proprietor you must pay for that health insurance even if you earn very little.

I am not sure why you expect the state to subsidise the health insurance of people who voluntarily put themselves in the position of working for an employer(themselves) that can't afford to pay them.

Anyone starting a business has to get together starting capital for the costs of the business itself, plus the costs of necessary employees up until the company starts earning money. This is one of those costs.

A number of countries make employer contributions to health insurance entirely a percentage of salary, sometimes with a lower threshold before payments (be it employer or employee contributions) kick in at all.

> Germany is no different. Everyone is required to have health insurance(since not treating the uninsured is not an option in a humane socitey), and as a sole proprietor you must pay for that health insurance even if you earn very little.

Singapore has rules that make something like health insurance mandatory for locals and most foreigners here. However, if you are on the visa for highly paid foreigners, fewer rules apply. Specifically, health insurance is optional.

In general, I agree that leaving rich people out of your paternalism is perfectly compatible with a humane society. Rich folks can look out for themselves and only have themselves to blame.

(The health care for locals in Singapore largely works as a health savings account, so the system has less need to force healthy people into contributing to balance the books. Largely everyone pays for themselves, though there is a genuine insurance component to the system as well; as in a mechanism to shoulder large unpredictable risks.)

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