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November 22, 2008 7:09:43 CST

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What's Your Salary? In Sweden, It's No Secret

Posted Jun 19, 08 7:15 PM CDT in World 

(Newser) – In America, tax information is kept private by law. In Sweden, "you can see what your brother-in-law made, your neighbor made," says one Justice Ministry official. Like its Scandinavian counterparts Norway and Finland, Sweden makes all tax returns public every year—and no one seems to care, reports USA Today.

The Scandanavian tradition of open records is a longstanding one and stems from the concept of jantelag, which means roughly that everyone is equal, USA Today notes. "Finland is a very egalitarian country, and it's a very high-tax society, so it provides checks and balances," says a spokesman for the Finnish embassy.

Source USA Today

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Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was one of many Italians not so pleased with the publishing of private tax information in the papers, as a final farewell from the former PM, Romano Prodi   ((AP Photo/Evan Vucci))
Swedes like soccer, transparency in tax information.   (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen's government publishes personal tax data, along with the rest of Scandinavia.   (Getty Images)
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