wow, that taxation is horrendous. And I thought German wasn't too good (compared to whatever paradise I had in mind in scandinavia, france or whatever). To clarify: i don't really mean high taxation is the problem (I'm pro high taxation). I just think someone who earns 60% of the median income shouldn't pay nearly 50% taxes [numbers not representative, those come now]. If I can trust this calculator[1] then someone who earns 24k€ in Belgium has to pay around 40% in taxes (Germany: 30%). That's really tough. And here I am sitting in Germany waiting for my opportunity to protest that the marginal tax rate is over 50% for people above the average income (income class 1, single, between 3800 to 4500€/month I'd have to pay taxes of over 50€ per 100€ raise) but if you get above a certain threshold (especially after you don't have to pay any additional taxes for healthcare) you're good... as I said, compared to what low income earners in belgium have to pay in taxes, I now see that my complaints are negligible.

[1] https://www.icalculator.info/belgium.html