These Are The Nations With The Highest (And Lowest) Marginal Income Tax Rates

It’s tax filing time for quite a few countries, as their financial year comes to end.

How differently do countries tax their citizens? Visual Capitalist's Pallavi Rao took a look at the top marginal individual income tax rates of nearly 150 countries to compare and contrast differences.

Data for this map is sourced from PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries, updated between Aug 2024–Feb 2025.

Of course there are limitations to the data. Only the highest portion of an individual’s income is taxed at this rate, and brackets vary significantly on how much money falls into that pool.

Furthermore, property, sales, or other indirect taxes are not included. It also omits state, provincial, and municipal taxes

Ranked: Countries by their Highest Personal Income Tax Rate

Western European countries on average have the highest headline income tax rates in the world.

Per the source, seven countries have a 50%+ top rate, and six of those are in Europe, led by Denmark at 55.9%.

Rank	Country	ISO Code	Headline Personal Income Tax Rate
1	🇩🇰 Denmark	DNK	55.9
2	🇫🇮 Finland	FIN	55
3	🇱🇺 Luxembourg	LUX	51
4	🇦🇹 Austria	AUT	50
5	🇧🇪 Belgium	BEL	50
6	🇮🇱 Israel	ISR	50
7	🇸🇮 Slovenia	SVN	50
8	🇳🇱 Netherlands	NLD	49.5
9	🇵🇹 Portugal	PRT	48
10	🇳🇴 Norway	NOR	47.4
11	🇪🇸 Spain	ESP	47
12	🇨🇭 Switzerland	CHE	45.5
13	🇦🇺 Australia	AUS	45
14	🇨🇳 China	CHN	45
15	🇩🇪 Germany	DEU	45
16	🇫🇷 France	FRA	45
17	🇬🇧 UK	GBR	45
18	🇯🇵 Japan	JPN	45
19	🇰🇷 South Korea	KOR	45
20	🇿🇦 South Africa	ZAF	45
21	🇬🇷 Greece	GRC	44
22	🇮🇹 Italy	ITA	43
23	🇸🇳 Senegal	SEN	43
24	🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea	PNG	42
25	🇨🇱 Chile	CHL	40
26	🇨🇩 DRC	COD	40
27	🇨🇬 Congo	COG	40
28	🇬🇦 Gabon	GAB	40
29	🇬🇾 Guyana	GUY	40
30	🇮🇪 Ireland	IRL	40
31	🇲🇷 Mauritania	MRT	40
32	🇳🇨 New Caledonia	NCL	40
33	🇹🇷 Türkiye	TUR	40
34	🇹🇼 Taiwan	TWN	40
35	🇺🇬 Uganda	UGA	40
36	🇨🇴 Colombia	COL	39
37	🇮🇳 India	IND	39
38	🇳🇿 New Zealand	NZL	39
39	🇨🇲 Cameroon	CMR	38.5
40	🇲🇦 Morocco	MAR	38
41	🇪🇨 Ecuador	ECU	37
42	🇳🇦 Namibia	NAM	37
43	🇺🇸 U.S.	USA	37
44	🇿🇲 Zambia	ZMB	37
45	🇺🇾 Uruguay	URY	36
46	🇭🇷 Croatia	HRV	35.4
47	🇦🇷 Argentina	ARG	35
48	🇨🇾 Cyprus	CYP	35
49	🇩🇿 Algeria	DZA	35
50	🇪🇹 Ethiopia	ETH	35
51	🇬🇭 Ghana	GHA	35
52	🇮🇩 Indonesia	IDN	35
53	🇰🇪 Kenya	KEN	35
54	🇲🇽 Mexico	MEX	35
55	🇲🇹 Malta	MLT	35
56	🇵🇰 Pakistan	PAK	35
57	🇵🇭 Philippines	PHL	35
58	🇹🇭 Thailand	THA	35
59	🇹🇳 Tunisia	TUN	35
60	🇻🇳 Vietnam	VNM	35
61	🇻🇪 Venezuela	VEN	34
62	🇨🇦 Canada	CAN	33
63	🇱🇻 Latvia	LVA	33
64	🇵🇷 Puerto Rico	PRI	33
65	🇸🇿 Eswatini	SWZ	33
66	🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire	CIV	32
67	🇱🇹 Lithuania	LTU	32
68	🇲🇿 Mozambique	MOZ	32
69	🇵🇱 Poland	POL	32
70	🇮🇸 Iceland	ISL	31.35
71	🇧🇩 Bangladesh	BGD	30
72	🇯🇲 Jamaica	JAM	30
73	🇯🇴 Jordan	JOR	30
74	🇱🇨 Saint Lucia (assumed "Saint")	KNA	30
75	🇲🇾 Malaysia	MYS	30
76	🇳🇮 Nicaragua	NIC	30
77	🇵🇪 Peru	PER	30
78	🇷🇼 Rwanda	RWA	30
79	🇸🇻 El Salvador	SLV	30
80	🇹🇩 Chad	TCD	30
81	🇹🇿 Tanzania	TZA	30
82	🇧🇧 Barbados	BRB	28.5
83	🇧🇷 Brazil	BRA	27.5
84	🇨🇻 Cabo Verde	CPV	27.5
85	🇪🇬 Egypt	EGY	27.5
86	🇦🇴 Angola	AGO	25
87	🇦🇿 Azerbaijan	AZE	25
88	🇧🇼 Botswana	BWA	25
89	🇨🇷 Costa Rica	CRI	25
90	🇩🇴 Dominican Republic	DOM	25
91	🇬🇮 Gibraltar	GIB	25
92	🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea	GNQ	25
93	🇭🇳 Honduras	HND	25
94	🇱🇦 Laos	LAO	25
95	🇱🇧 Lebanon	LBN	25
96	🇲🇲 Myanmar	MMR	25
97	🇵🇦 Panama	PAN	25
98	🇸🇰 Slovakia	SVK	25
99	🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago	TTO	25
100	🇳🇬 Nigeria	NGA	24
101	🇸🇬 Singapore	SGP	24
102	🇦🇱 Albania	ALB	23
103	🇨🇿 Czechia	CZE	23
104	🇱🇮 Liechtenstein	LIE	22.4
105	🇮🇲 Isle of Man	IMN	22
106	🇦🇲 Armenia	ARM	20
107	🇪🇪 Estonia	EST	20
108	🇬🇪 Georgia	GEO	20
109	🇬🇬 Guernsey	GGY	20
110	🇯🇪 Jersey	JEY	20
111	🇰🇭 Cambodia	KHM	20
112	🇲🇬 Madagascar	MDG	20
113	🇲🇳 Mongolia	MNG	20
114	🇲🇺 Mauritius	MUS	20
115	🇷🇸 Serbia	SRB	20
116	🇸🇪 Sweden	SWE	20
117	🇺🇦 Ukraine	UKR	18
118	🇭🇰 Hong Kong	HKG	16
119	🇭🇺 Hungary	HUN	15
120	🇮🇶 Iraq	IRQ	15
121	🇲🇪 Montenegro	MNE	15
122	🇵🇸 Palestinian Territories	PSE	15
123	🇷🇺 Russia	RUS	15
124	🇧🇴 Bolivia	BOL	13
125	🇱🇾 Libya	LBY	13
126	🇲🇴 Macau	MAC	12
127	🇲🇩 Moldova	MDA	12
128	🇺🇿 Uzbekistan	UZB	12
129	🇧🇬 Bulgaria	BGR	10
130	🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina	BIH	10
131	🇬🇱 Greenland	GRL	10
132	🇰🇿 Kazakhstan	KAZ	10
133	🇲🇰 North Macedonia	MKD	10
134	🇵🇾 Paraguay	PRY	10
135	🇷🇴 Romania	ROU	10
136	🇹🇱 Timor-Leste	TLS	10
137	🇽🇰 Kosovo	XKX	10
138	🇬🇹 Guatemala	GTM	7
139	🇦🇪 UAE	ARE	0
140	🇧🇭 Bahrain	BHR	0
141	🇧🇲 Bermuda	BMU	0
142	🇰🇾 Cayman Islands	CYM	0
143	🇰🇼 Kuwait	KWT	0
144	🇴🇲 Oman	OMN	0
145	🇶🇦 Qatar	QAT	0
146	🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia	SAU	0

Note: Denmark’s figure includes a mandatory labor market tax for all wage earners in the country. Scotland pays a different rate than the rest of the UK.

But as always, the fine print contains more useful information. For example, in Denmark, the top bracket for employment income is 15%. However, this combines with the bottom bracket tax and mandatory healthcare and municipal contributions to raise the income tax ceiling. Finally, income from shares and dividends also attracts a high rate of 42%.

In the U.S., the 37% headline rate is only applicable to income above $609,000 for individuals. Of course, U.S. states tax their residents as well.

And finally, several Middle Eastern countries—also oil producers—don’t charge an income tax.

The Pros and Cons of Western Europe’s High Tax Rates

Individual income taxes often make up the largest source of government revenues.

Thus, higher taxes help fund extensive public services like healthcare, education, and social security.

It can also potentially reduce income inequality by redistributing wealth, supporting lower-income citizens, and fostering social cohesion.

However, less disposable income leads to less consumer spending. And better-skilled workers with higher earnings may relocate, leading to brain drain from the region.

High earners can avoid taxes by routing their incomes or businesses through low tax jurisdictions. Check out Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Tax Havens to see how much offshore wealth is parked around the globe.

Tyler Durden Sun, 03/09/2025 - 07:35

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