It largely depends on where you live in the US. Here in CA (but also in NY, WA, HI etc.) our taxes are just as high as in western Europe, with property taxes actually being even higher. The real problem is that while Europeans get something back from their government (low-cost education, health care etc.), we get almost nothing, at least compared to what we spend. But I agree that businesses pay less taxes here. Or none at all, in some cases…