COPENHAGEN: A newly released report from from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ) shows that “Denmark is the most taxed country in the world with nearly half of its GDP raised through taxes”, and the tax burden in Denmark stood at 48.6 percent in 2013, the highest among the 34 OECD member countries.
While the OECD average was an increase from 33.7 to 34.1 percent between 2012 and 2013, Denmark’s rate increased from 47.2 to 48.6 percent. The rise of 1.4 percentage points is over three times higher than the average tax increase in the same period.
By basically every measure, Denmark taxes its residents more than most countries – filling its state coffers with higher revenues from taxes on income, profits and capital gains than the OECD average. In fact, the income that Denmark raises by taxing income, profits and capital gains accounts for 62 percent of its total tax revenues, nearly double the OECD average of 34 percent.
The 30.7 percent tax on income and profits dwarfs the OECD average of 11.4 percent and is well above the next highest nation Norway, which takes 18.6 percent of its employees’ incomes.
The 25 percent Danish VAT is also significantly above the OECD average, which sits at 19.1 percent, although Denmark has the same VAT rate as Norway and Sweden and is topped by both Iceland and Hungary.
According to the OECD, overall taxation among the world’s top economies rose to the highest level in six years in 2013.
Tax receipts collected by OECD countries went from an average of 33.7 percent of the GDP in 2012 to 34.1 in 2013.
Denmark’s leading tax burden was followed by France and Belgium.
