Actually 8% tax isn't much, when most European countries have 20%+ VAT.
Yeah, actually its low as hell, I can't think a single European country that has single figure VAT without having to google/wikipedia it. On top of my head all are like 12+% maybe 14 on average.
i just checked the taxes for euro and i'm shocked, some of them reach 50%, wtf, living in japan in comparison is like living in a paradise
Check the consumer taxes for the Dutch population. Insane... Especially the special "added taxes" on stuff like alcohol, sigarattes, gasoline and even cars.. Our cars are 20-30% more expensive than in Belgium or Germany ffs...