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The debate about tax in the UK is generally parochial, even self-obsessed. But what if we lift our gaze? In the second episode of the Tax Conundrum Ben Chu asks what we could all learn from other countries. Ben travels to Estonia, which has pioneered a land value tax, something most tax experts regard as the most rational way to tax property and encourage building. He speaks to a Tallinn property developer to learn how it works in practice - and to ask how practical it would be to do something similar in Britain. He also takes a trip to Sweden, where, unlike the UK, Value Added Tax is charged on food and children鈥檚 clothes and asks shoppers in Stockholm why they鈥檙e not in uproar, as they undoubtedly would be in the UK if a politician dared to propose doing the same. The top income tax rate in Sweden is also above 50%. Ben talks to high earning Swedes about whether or not such rates discourage them from working - or whether the benefits in the form of more comprehensive public services like childcare make it worthwhile. Ben has the same conversation with workers in Estonia, which has a flat 22% income tax rate for everyone, regardless of their income. So is it wrong to assume that all the answers to the tax conundrum are to be found here in Britain?

Presenter: Ben Chu
Producer: Ivana Davidovic
Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples
Sound engineer: Rod Farquhar
Editor: Richard Vadon