Most people don’t like paying tax and believe the money they share with the government is far too much of their earnings.
To find out if this is true, international accountancy firm PwC worked out the figures for the world’s G20 club of most developed nations.
To make the comparison, the accountants assumed a married worker with £240,000 a year income and two children, one aged under six.
Here’s the salary they take home:
| G20 nation | Tax rate | Take home pay out of £240,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabia | 96.86% | £232,464 |
| Russia | 87.00% | £208,800 |
| Brazil | 73.32% | £175,968 |
| Mexico | 70.60% | £169,440 |
| Indonesia | 69.78% | £167,472 |
| South Korea | 65.75% | £157,800 |
| Turkey | 64.64% | £155,136 |
| Argentina | 64.02% | £153,648 |
| China | 62.05% | £148,920 |
| South Africa | 61.78% | £148,272 |
| Germany | 60.61% | £145,464 |
| USA | 60.45% | £145,080 |
| Australia | 59.30% | £142,320 |
| Japan | 58.68% | £140,832 |
| Canada | 58.13% | £139,512 |
| France | 58.10% | £139,440 |
| UK | 57.28% | £137,472 |
| India | 54.90% | £131,760 |
| Italy | 50.59% | £121,416 |
| Source: PwC |
The 20th country for the list is the European Union – but this is excluded from the list as several countries have independent membership detailed in the table.
For expats considering a move to a job overseas, one point to consider is the level where higher rate tax kicks in.
In the UK, the top rate of tax is 45% starting at earning £151,000 a year, while in Italy, the top rate is 43% starting when earnings top £74,890.
Moving out of the G20, Denmark taxes all salaries over £35,950 at 60%.
Europe ranks high
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) also regularly compares tax rates for the 34 member countries across the world, which include10 of the G20 nations.
“Belgium is the place where single taxpayers without children pay the most out of their salaries as income tax and social security to the government, followed by Germany,” said a spokesman.
“Chile and Mexico pay the least from their salaries to the government.”
According to the experts, married expats should stay away from Greece, which is the only country where a married couple with children pays more tax and social security than a single person.
In Germany, the tax rate is cut in half for families with children because of attractive child tax credits.
“European countries rate better than elsewhere in the world. Income tax and social security payments may be high, but the benefits paid out if someone loses their job or falls ill are generous compared with the rest of the world,” said an OECD spokesman.
