According to Abba: The Official Photo Book, published to mark 40 years since they won Eurovision with Waterloo, the band’s style was influenced in part by laws that allowed the cost of outfits to be deducted against tax – so long as the costumes were so outrageous they could not possibly be worn on the street.
I think I figured it out!
They were going to have to wear costumes regardless, but they would be able to not pay taxes on them if the costumes were crazy enough.
It really seems like these would be more expensive by more than the tax benefits
Not at all, Sweden during the ABBA age was completely nuts. There was no cap on taxes, and as such, you could incur a more than 100% marginal tax rate.
Astrid Lindgren (the beloved childrens book writer) was amongst those affected.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomperipossa_in_Monismania
@Zip2@feddit.uk explained it:
I’ve read the comment, but that’s not how taxes usually work. (It is, however, like a lot of people with little knowledge about the topic think tax deductions in general work - which makes me suspicious)
It would take bit more of the than that comment at face value to convince me that apparent law exist(ed)
I appreciate the amount of thought you’ve put into this, while I just make cynical comments.
It made me start thinking about it and then it bothered me enough to try to figure it out.
As we often hear over in Lemmy Shitpost, “I know this is a shitpost, but…”