20 Countries with Surprisingly High Income Tax

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With a headline personal income tax rate (PIT) of 37%, the U.S. tied for just the 41^st highest in the latest roundup by GOBankingRates, sourced from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ World Tax Summaries. That’s the same headline PIT rate as Ecuador and the Republic of Namibia.

PwC generally defines “headline” PIT rates as the highest PIT rate defined by statutes. The definition doesn’t include local taxes but may include surtaxes.

It gets a lot higher in numerous countries across the globe. Particularly in Europe, which landed 13 countries in the list of 20 with the highest PIT rates. Asia was next on the list with three countries.

As for the other extreme, Guatemala has the lowest headline personal income tax rate in PwC’s list at just 7%. Next up at 10% are Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, North Macedonia, Paraguay, Romania, Timor-Leste and Turkmenistan.

But, on to the countries that take the biggest bite. We’ve listed headline PIT rates along with some other handy facts. If you think income taxes are high in the United States, try living in one of these 20 countries.

19. (tie) Greece

• Capital: Athens
• Population: 10,384,971
• Headline PIT rate (%): 44

19. (tie) Fiji

• Capital: Suva
• Population: 929,766
• Headline PIT rate (%): 44

12. (tie) United Kingdom

• Capital: London
• Population: 67,508,936
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) South Africa

• Capital: Bloemfontein (judicial), Cape Town (legislative), Pretoria (executive)
• Population: 59,893,886
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) Republic of Korea

• Capital: Seoul
• Population: 51,815,810
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) Germany

• Capital: Berlin
• Population: 83,369,843
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) France

• Capital: Paris
• Population: 64,626,628
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) China

• Capital: Beijing
• Population: 1,425,887,337
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

12. (tie) Australia

• Capital: Canberra
• Population: 26,177,414
• Headline PIT rate (%): 45

11. Spain

• Capital: Madrid
• Population: 47,558,630
• Headline PIT rate (%): 47

10. Japan

• Capital: Tokyo
• Population: 123,951,692
• Headline PIT rate (%): 47.1

9. Portugal

• Capital: Lisbon
• Population: 10,270,865
• Headline PIT rate (%): 48

8. The Netherlands

• Capital: Amsterdam, The Hague
• Population: 17,564,014
• Headline PIT rate (%): 49.5

5. (tie) Slovenia

• Capital: Ljubljana
• Population: 2,119,844
• Headline PIT rate (%): 50

5. (tie) Israel

• Capital: Jerusalem
• Population: 9,038,309
• Headline PIT rate (%): 50

5. (tie) Belgium

• Capital: Brussels
• Population: 11,655,930
• Headline PIT rate (%): 50

4. Luxembourg

• Capital: Luxembourg
• Population: 647,599
• Headline PIT rate (%): 51

2. (tie) Finland

• Capital: Helsinki
• Population: 5,540,746
• Headline PIT rate (%): 55

2. (tie) Austria

• Capital: Vienna
• Population: 8,939,617
• Headline PIT rate (%): 55

1. Denmark

• Capital: Copenhagen
• Population: 5,882,262
• Headline PIT rate (%): 56

Note: Populations are based on numbers provided by the United Nations in 2022.

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