World's Highest Tax Rates
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been compiling data on government taxes among OECD countries since 1965. The group's annual report looks at internationally comparative data based on public revenue from *tax contributions as a percentage of gross domestic product for each country, then ranks them based on the highest and lowest overall tax rates.
Here, we take a look at the OECD's 2010 report details. Click ahead to see the world's highest tax rates as a percentage of GDP.
By Constance Parten, Senior Producer
Posted 11 April, 2011
The American Tax Cheat
Source: OECD
* For the purposes of the OECD's report, “taxes” is confined to compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. Taxes are unrequited in the sense that benefits provided by government to taxpayers are not normally in proportion to their payments. In the OECD classification, taxes are classified by the base of the tax: income and profits, payroll, property, consumption and other taxes. Compulsory social security contributions
paid to general government also are treated as taxes.
10. Slovenia
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 37.9
GDP: $48.48 billion
Total Population: 2.0 million
Life Expectancy: 79
Unemployment: 4.4 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
9. Hungary
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 39.1
GDP: $128.96 billion
Total Population: 10.0 million
Life Expectancy: 74
Unemployment: 7.8 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
8. Norway
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 41.0
GDP: $381.77 billion
Total Population: 4.8 million
Life Expectancy: 81
Unemployment: 2.6 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
7. France
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 41.9
GDP: $2.85 trillion
Total Population: 62.6 million
Life Expectancy: 82
Unemployment: 7.4 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
6. Austria
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 42.8
GDP: $381.08 billion
Total Population: 8.4 million
Life Expectancy: 80
Unemployment: 3.8 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
5. Finland
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 43.1
GDP: $237.99 billion
Total Population: 5.3 million
Life Expectancy: 80
Unemployment: 6.4 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
4. Belgium
Taxes as percentage of GDP: 43.2
GDP: $471.16 billion
Total Population: 10.8 million
Life Expectancy: 80
Unemployment: 7.0 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
3. Italy
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 43.5
GDP: $2.30 trillion
Total Population: 60.2 million
Life Expectancy: 82
Unemployment: 6.7 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
2. Sweden
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 46.4
GDP: $406.07 billion
Total Population: 9.3 million
Life Expectancy: 81
Unemployment: 6.2 percent
Source: OECD and World Bank
1. Denmark
Tax rate as percentage of GDP: 48.2
GDP: $309.60 billion
Total Population: 5.5 million
Life Expectancy: 79
Unemployment: 3.3 percent
And in case you were wondering, the lowest tax rates in the world as a percentage of GDP are:
1. Mexico: 17.5
2. Chile 18.2
3. United States: 24.0
4. Turkey: 24.6
5. Korea: 25.6
6. Ireland 27.8
7. Slovak Republic: 29.3
8. Greece: 29.4
9. Switzerland: 30.3
10. Spain: 30.7
Source: OECD and World Bank
The American Tax Cheat
Millions of Americans knowingly lie on their tax forms. The government loses out on roughly $300 billion a year in unpaid taxes. But the IRS has ways of making you pay. Is it worth the risk?