It’s tax filing time for quite a few countries, as their financial year comes to end.

How differently do countries tax their citizens? Visual Capitalist’s Pallavi Rao took a look at the top marginal individual income tax rates of nearly 150 countries to compare and contrast differences.

Data for this map is sourced from PwC’s Worldwide Tax Summaries, updated between Aug 2024–Feb 2025.

Of course there are limitations to the data. Only the highest portion of an individual’s income is taxed at this rate, and brackets vary significantly on how much money falls into that pool.

Furthermore, property, sales, or other indirect taxes are not included. It also omits state, provincial, and municipal taxes

Ranked: Countries by their Highest Personal Income Tax Rate

Western European countries on average have the highest headline income tax rates in the world.

Per the source, seven countries have a 50%+ top rate, and six of those are in Europe, led by Denmark at 55.9%.

Rank
Country
ISO Code
Headline Personal Income Tax Rate
1
🇩🇰 Denmark
DNK
55.9
2
🇫🇮 Finland
FIN
55
3
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
LUX
51
4
🇦🇹 Austria
AUT
50
5
🇧🇪 Belgium
BEL
50
6
🇮🇱 Israel
ISR
50
7
🇸🇮 Slovenia
SVN
50
8
🇳🇱 Netherlands
NLD
49.5
9
🇵🇹 Portugal
PRT
48
10
🇳🇴 Norway
NOR
47.4
11
🇪🇸 Spain
ESP
47
12
🇨🇭 Switzerland
CHE
45.5
13
🇦🇺 Australia
AUS
45
14
🇨🇳 China
CHN
45
15
🇩🇪 Germany
DEU
45
16
🇫🇷 France
FRA
45
17
🇬🇧 UK
GBR
45
18
🇯🇵 Japan
JPN
45
19
🇰🇷 South Korea
KOR
45
20
🇿🇦 South Africa
ZAF
45
21
🇬🇷 Greece
GRC
44
22
🇮🇹 Italy
ITA
43
23
🇸🇳 Senegal
SEN
43
24
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
PNG
42
25
🇨🇱 Chile
CHL
40
26
🇨🇩 DRC
COD
40
27
🇨🇬 Congo
COG
40
28
🇬🇦 Gabon
GAB
40
29
🇬🇾 Guyana
GUY
40
30
🇮🇪 Ireland
IRL
40
31
🇲🇷 Mauritania
MRT
40
32
🇳🇨 New Caledonia
NCL
40
33
🇹🇷 Türkiye
TUR
40
34
🇹🇼 Taiwan
TWN
40
35
🇺🇬 Uganda
UGA
40
36
🇨🇴 Colombia
COL
39
37
🇮🇳 India
IND
39
38
🇳🇿 New Zealand
NZL
39
39
🇨🇲 Cameroon
CMR
38.5
40
🇲🇦 Morocco
MAR
38
41
🇪🇨 Ecuador
ECU
37
42
🇳🇦 Namibia
NAM
37
43
🇺🇸 U.S.
USA
37
44
🇿🇲 Zambia
ZMB
37
45
🇺🇾 Uruguay
URY
36
46
🇭🇷 Croatia
HRV
35.4
47
🇦🇷 Argentina
ARG
35
48
🇨🇾 Cyprus
CYP
35
49
🇩🇿 Algeria
DZA
35
50
🇪🇹 Ethiopia
ETH
35
51
🇬🇭 Ghana
GHA
35
52
🇮🇩 Indonesia
IDN
35
53
🇰🇪 Kenya
KEN
35
54
🇲🇽 Mexico
MEX
35
55
🇲🇹 Malta
MLT
35
56
🇵🇰 Pakistan
PAK
35
57
🇵🇭 Philippines
PHL
35
58
🇹🇭 Thailand
THA
35
59
🇹🇳 Tunisia
TUN
35
60
🇻🇳 Vietnam
VNM
35
61
🇻🇪 Venezuela
VEN
34
62
🇨🇦 Canada
CAN
33
63
🇱🇻 Latvia
LVA
33
64
🇵🇷 Puerto Rico
PRI
33
65
🇸🇿 Eswatini
SWZ
33
66
🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire
CIV
32
67
🇱🇹 Lithuania
LTU
32
68
🇲🇿 Mozambique
MOZ
32
69
🇵🇱 Poland
POL
32
70
🇮🇸 Iceland
ISL
31.35
71
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
BGD
30
72
🇯🇲 Jamaica
JAM
30
73
🇯🇴 Jordan
JOR
30
74
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia (assumed “Saint”)
KNA
30
75
🇲🇾 Malaysia
MYS
30
76
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
NIC
30
77
🇵🇪 Peru
PER
30
78
🇷🇼 Rwanda
RWA
30
79
🇸🇻 El Salvador
SLV
30
80
🇹🇩 Chad
TCD
30
81
🇹🇿 Tanzania
TZA
30
82
🇧🇧 Barbados
BRB
28.5
83
🇧🇷 Brazil
BRA
27.5
84
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde
CPV
27.5
85
🇪🇬 Egypt
EGY
27.5
86
🇦🇴 Angola
AGO
25
87
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
AZE
25
88
🇧🇼 Botswana
BWA
25
89
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
CRI
25
90
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
DOM
25
91
🇬🇮 Gibraltar
GIB
25
92
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea
GNQ
25
93
🇭🇳 Honduras
HND
25
94
🇱🇦 Laos
LAO
25
95
🇱🇧 Lebanon
LBN
25
96
🇲🇲 Myanmar
MMR
25
97
🇵🇦 Panama
PAN
25
98
🇸🇰 Slovakia
SVK
25
99
🇹🇹 Trinidad & Tobago
TTO
25
100
🇳🇬 Nigeria
NGA
24
101
🇸🇬 Singapore
SGP
24
102
🇦🇱 Albania
ALB
23
103
🇨🇿 Czechia
CZE
23
104
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
LIE
22.4
105
🇮🇲 Isle of Man
IMN
22
106
🇦🇲 Armenia
ARM
20
107
🇪🇪 Estonia
EST
20
108
🇬🇪 Georgia
GEO
20
109
🇬🇬 Guernsey
GGY
20
110
🇯🇪 Jersey
JEY
20
111
🇰🇭 Cambodia
KHM
20
112
🇲🇬 Madagascar
MDG
20
113
🇲🇳 Mongolia
MNG
20
114
🇲🇺 Mauritius
MUS
20
115
🇷🇸 Serbia
SRB
20
116
🇸🇪 Sweden
SWE
20
117
🇺🇦 Ukraine
UKR
18
118
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
HKG
16
119
🇭🇺 Hungary
HUN
15
120
🇮🇶 Iraq
IRQ
15
121
🇲🇪 Montenegro
MNE
15
122
🇵🇸 Palestinian Territories
PSE
15
123
🇷🇺 Russia
RUS
15
124
🇧🇴 Bolivia
BOL
13
125
🇱🇾 Libya
LBY
13
126
🇲🇴 Macau
MAC
12
127
🇲🇩 Moldova
MDA
12
128
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
UZB
12
129
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
BGR
10
130
🇧🇦 Bosnia & Herzegovina
BIH
10
131
🇬🇱 Greenland
GRL
10
132
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
KAZ
10
133
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
MKD
10
134
🇵🇾 Paraguay
PRY
10
135
🇷🇴 Romania
ROU
10
136
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste
TLS
10
137
🇽🇰 Kosovo
XKX
10
138
🇬🇹 Guatemala
GTM
7
139
🇦🇪 UAE
ARE
0
140
🇧🇭 Bahrain
BHR
0
141
🇧🇲 Bermuda
BMU
0
142
🇰🇾 Cayman Islands
CYM
0
143
🇰🇼 Kuwait
KWT
0
144
🇴🇲 Oman
OMN
0
145
🇶🇦 Qatar
QAT
0
146
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
SAU
0

Note: Denmark’s figure includes a mandatory labor market tax for all wage earners in the country. Scotland pays a different rate than the rest of the UK.

But as always, the fine print contains more useful information. For example, in Denmark, the top bracket for employment income is 15%. However, this combines with the bottom bracket tax and mandatory healthcare and municipal contributions to raise the income tax ceiling. Finally, income from shares and dividends also attracts a high rate of 42%.

In the U.S., the 37% headline rate is only applicable to income above $609,000 for individuals. Of course, U.S. states tax their residents as well.

And finally, several Middle Eastern countries—also oil producers—don’t charge an income tax.

The Pros and Cons of Western Europe’s High Tax Rates

Individual income taxes often make up the largest source of government revenues.

Thus, higher taxes help fund extensive public services like healthcare, education, and social security.

It can also potentially reduce income inequality by redistributing wealth, supporting lower-income citizens, and fostering social cohesion.

However, less disposable income leads to less consumer spending. And better-skilled workers with higher earnings may relocate, leading to brain drain from the region.

High earners can avoid taxes by routing their incomes or businesses through low tax jurisdictions. Check out Ranked: The World’s Top 10 Tax Havens to see how much offshore wealth is parked around the globe.