Tax

===Social-security contributions===
[[File:GDP per capita PPP vs social contributions 2016.svg|thumb|[[Public finance|General government]] revenue, in % of [[GDP]], from social contributions. For this data, 20% of the [[variance]] of GDP per capita – adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) – is explained by revenue from social security and the like.]]

Many countries provide publicly funded retirement or healthcare systems.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/index.html |title= Social Security Programs Throughout the World on the U.S. Social Security website for links to individual country program descriptions |publisher= Ssa.gov |access-date= 22 January 2013}}</ref> In connection with these systems, the country typically requires employers and/or employees to make compulsory payments.<ref>By contrast, some countries, such as [http://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/progdesc/ssptw/2010-2011/asia/newzealand.html New Zealand], finance the programs through other taxes.</ref> These payments are often computed by reference to wages or earnings from self-employment. Tax rates are generally fixed, but a different rate may be imposed on employers than on employees.<ref>See for example [http://labour.nic.in/ss/overview.html India Social Security overview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623221835/http://labour.nic.in/ss/overview.html |date=23 June 2011 }}</ref> Some systems provide an upper limit on earnings subject to the tax. A few systems provide that the tax is payable only on wages above a particular amount. Such upper or lower limits may apply for retirement but not for health-care components of the tax. Some have argued that such taxes on wages are a form of "forced savings" and not really a tax, while others point to redistribution through such systems between generations (from newer cohorts to older cohorts) and across income levels (from higher income levels to lower income-levels) which suggests that such programs are really taxed and spending programs.