Please feel free to explain specifically where you think i went wrong. I deal with these sorts of taxes daily as the EVP of a company.
A person making 489 euros in the netherlands will pay about 233 euros in taxes, or the very abusive tax rate of about 48%
On 45k euros income the dutch will pay about 13k or 29%
Similarly in the usa 489 equivelant in euros of income would cost you 35.5% effective rate and 41.5% marginal rate.
So no this is incorrect, at 489K while the taxes are a nice chink less in the US it is also quite a bit higher than the 45K levdl as you suggest also.
@freemo @pmonks @QasimRashid HSBC says the Dutch second band is 37.25%. The top US bracket is 37%.
You're invoking effective rate, which are effectively meaningless if you exclude VAT/sales tax, health insurance, education, etc. Cutting the top US backet (& cap gains) was paid for by shifting the burden of society, the economy, and the state, to those least able to pay.