The effective corporate tax rate is defined as the average rate that corporations are taxed on their profits by the government. Tax rates vary based on the corporate laws of each nation. To get an idea of the effective corporate tax rates around the world, we can look at data compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD. Based on data from 2017, the highest composite effective average tax rate was found in India. This nation’s rate was 44.1%. Coming in behind India was Costa Rica with a tax rate of 37.9%. In third place was Argentina with a tax rate of 35.7%.
The nations with the highest effective corporate tax rates are India, Costa Rica, Argentina, United States, Malta, France, Chile, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Australia, Montserrat, Brazil, Seychelles, Peru, Greece, Senegal, Portugal, Japan, Mexico, Botswana, Germany, South Africa, Kenya, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, and Belgium.
If we look at the other side of the coin, there are several nations with a low corporate tax rate. Nations without a corporate tax rate include British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Saudi Arabia, and Turks and Caicos. There are other nations that do have a corporate tax rate but they are the lowest when compared to other nations. These countries include: Andorra, Bulgaria, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Macau, Ireland, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia, Mauritius, Romania, Albania, Hong Kong, Croatia, Singapore, Estonia,Poland, Slovenia, Russia, Iceland, Finland, United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, and Sweden.