Swedish taxes are high for individuals, but the system is regressive. Sweden has abolished all kinds of wealth tax and only has three income tax bands. It is a great place to live if you are rich.
Yes, I wondered if anyone was going to point that out. The lowest rate of personal income tax is relatively high, extremely low income tax threshold, sales tax is 25%. Compare this to the US where close to a majority of the population doesn't even pay income tax, it is quite different.
I don't think either system is better than the other. But talk to someone on $60k in the US and ask whether they want to pay 53% over the 22% they pay today. You get more public services in Sweden but these services are fully-funded by your tax revenue, and there is very little redistribution.
