BERLIN: The two countries once again finished in first and second place in the annual Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reporton tax burdens. In 2017, the average unmarried German worker with no children paid 39.9 percent in personal income tax and social security contributions after any state benefits, just 0.6 percent behind their Belgian counterpart. Denmark followed in third place, with the lowest of the OECD’s 35 members being Chile on 7 percent.
The US and UK finished in mid-table with 26 and 23.4 percent respectively, while other standout figures were Sweden at 25 percent, Switzerland at 16.9 and Italy with 31.2. The average across the OECD, an organization comprising the wealthiest countries in the world, was 25.5 percent.
Germany fared better when the tax rate for couples was compared. The country was in seventh place at 21.7 percent for one-earner married couples with two children. But when both spouses worked, Germany rose to second place after Denmark.
The OECD made another useful calculation that it calls the tax wedge. This is the percentage of income tax paid on an employees’ gross salary plus the social security contributions paid by the employer, a useful measure to compare labor costs. Here again, Belgium was first with 53.7 percent and Germany was second with 49.7 percent for a single worker.
