What to tax, and how to tax it?

Austerity-slammed European parliaments are finding creative ways to raise new taxes. Not all of them have been embraced by citizens, though. In the midst of protests, lawmakers in Cyprus rejected a bill that would have levied a one-off tax on bank accounts of private Cypriots. Cyprus must raise 5.8 billion euros in return for 10 billion euros ($12.9 billion) in aid from the EU.

In Spain, authorities are planning to tax church properties listed as charities but that are being used for commercial activities such as rental apartments, garages or parking lots. The Catholic Church is Spain's largest and wealthiest landowner and has remained largely exempt from paying most taxes. It's also the biggest charity at a time when public welfare programs are being cut and...

…one in four people don't have a job, like in Bescano, near Barcelona. A "carrot rebellion" was kicked off in Bescano to save Spanish culture after the government hiked the sales tax on theater tickets from 8 to 21 percent. The owner of a local theater replaced tickets with carrots. Classified as a staple, carrots are taxed at only four percent. Critics speak of tax evasion.

In Portugal, consumers now have to put their national insurance number on all financial documents - including restaurant bills and shopping receipts - or risk a fine of 2,000 euros. Protesters leaked Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's number, and since no identification is necessary for purchases under 1,000 euros, tax offices were soon flooded with dubious puchases made in Coelho's name.

Like tax evasion, money laundering hurts many European economies. International authorities launched an extensive investigation into mafia activities in 2008. In early March 2013, Italian police seized 450 million euros in assets from 17 southern vacation resorts and arrested some 20 people suspected of being involved in organized crime - among them Irish and Spanish nationals.

In Britain it's all about housing. Under what critics dubbed a "bedroom tax," families deemed to have too much living space will receive a reduced subsidy. Separately, a "mansion tax" on Britain’s wealthier citizens was rejected by lawmakers in March 2013. Owners of houses worth more than 2 million pounds would have had to pay a one-percent annual tax.

In France, the government’s plans for a 75-percent income tax rate on earnings over one million euros triggered an outcry from celebrities. Gerard Depardieu took on Russian citizenship and moved to neighboring Belgium - but denies it was for tax reasons. The French Constitutional Council has since ruled the proposed levy unconstitutional. The government is now reworking the plan.

But adopting a new home country does not always exempt you from tax hikes. More than 260,000 Greek nationals live in Australia, and they now face higher taxes on their properties and rental income back home in Greece. They will not be taxed on income earned in Australia, the Greek government has promised. The new arrangement might even be revised, too, when the Greek economy picks up again.

In Europe, the question is generally one of "fairness." With that in mind, the EU has decided to cap bankers’ bonuses at one year’s pay. Just days after the news from Brussels, Swiss voters said yes to a referendum called the "Fat-cat initiative." Under the new rules, company shareholders will now determine the salaries of their managers.

And then there was Iceland. It was the first European country to be hit by the crisis in 2008, and its approach was totally different: Iceland let its banks fail, supported consumers and cut deductions for the well-off. Undoing the damage is still work in progress, and its example may not be readily transferable to bigger countries. But there is more than one path toward recovery.