>>>Q1) Is it true that the average working Swede pays +/-70% in taxes ?
>>
>>No, according to http://www.taxrates.cc/html/sweden-tax-rates.html it's 57.77%. However, I doubt that this number is correct. And then again, it's a question of how you calculate. If you add all the taxes, VAT, custom an everything, you may end end up with 80-90%, at least here in Norway.
>
>The way it was expressed (to me) is ambiguous but it was implied as a tax on income rather than a tax from spending.

Then I would say that you got the wrong information.

>>>Q2) Is it true that in an attempt to enforce "equality" the words him and her have been combined into a new word "hem" ?
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>>I listen to Swedish radio and TV almost every day, and I have never heard such a word.
>
>OK I was thinking this would be a case of political correctness going totally mad imo. Thanks for the feedback.

Sweden has a relatively high percentage of immigrants, maybe they have such a word, and it's slowly getting into the day to day language. But I haven't heard anything about it.