As the old adage goes, only two things in life are certain: death and taxes. Taxes can be a financial burden, but paying taxes is important for several reasons. Taxes are used to fund all manner of publicly-funded services including the military, public education, infrastructure such as roads and parks, police and fire departments, and public retirement and health programs such as Social Security and Medicare in the United States. Simply put, taxes provide the funds that a country needs to survive.
No two national tax systems are alike
Taxes come in many forms, including sales tax, income tax, property tax, inheritance and estate taxes, excise tax, and more. Plus, tax rates and regulations vary greatly from country to country, and even within different parts of the same country. For example, most U.S. states charge some form of income tax, but an individual state's income tax rate may be anywhere from 1% to 13.3%. Moreover, seven states (Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Wyoming) do not collect any state income tax at all, and two more (New Hampshire and Tennessee) tax interest and dividend income, but not wages or salaries.
Similarly, most U.S. states charge a state sales tax, but some do not. However, states without a sales tax or an income tax may add or raise other taxes to make up for the deficit, such as implementing higher property tax rates. Finally, most governments that levy taxes charge different percentages based upon the amount of income or type of goods being taxed. For example, a person who makes $40k a year may pay 12% in income taxes while their next-door neighbor, who makes $200k, pays 25% or more. Similarly, sales of basic needs such as groceries are typically taxed at a much lower rate than sales of luxury items such as tobacco products or a new car. For this article, we’ll compare three main types of taxes: personal income tax, corporate tax, and sales tax.
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Personal Income Tax Rates - Trading Economics 2021:
- Ivory Coast - 60%
- Finland - 56.95%
- Japan - 55.97%
- Denmark - 55.90%
- Austria - 55.00%
- Sweden - 52.90%
- Aruba - 52.00%
- Belgium - 50.00% (tie)
- Israel - 50.00% (tie)
- Slovenia - 50.00% (tie)
Top 11 Countries with the Highest Corporate Taxes - Trading Economics 2021:
- Puerto Rico - 37.5%
- Suriname - 36.0%
- Chad - 35.0% (tie)
- Equatorial Guinea - 35.0% (tie)
- Guinea - 35.0% (tie)
- Iraq - 35.0% (tie)
- Malta - 35.0% (tie)
- Sudan - 35.0% (tie)
- Zambia - 35.0% (tie)
- Brazil - 34.0% (tie)
- Venezuela - 34.0% (tie)
Barbados (5.5%), Uzbekistan (7.5%), Hungary (9.0%) and Montenegro (9.0%) have very low corporate rates—however, several countries, such as Vanuatu, Bermuda, and Bahrain have no corporate tax at all.
Top 11 Countries with the Highest Sales Taxes - Trading Economics 2021:
- Bhutan - 50%
- Hungary - 27%
- Croatia - 25% (tie)
- Denmark - 25% (tie)
- Norway - 25% (tie)
- Sweden - 25% (tie)
- Finland - 24% (tie)
- Greece - 24% (tie)
- Iceland - 23% (tie)
- Poland - 23% (tie)
- Portugal - 23% (tie)
Finally, let’s look at sales tax rates. The highest rates are found in Bhutan, with rates up to 50%. Next is Hungary, which has a standard rate of 27%. In third place is a logjam of Croatia, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, all with standard rates of 25%.
Tax Havens
Countries that offer very low tax rates for foreign investors are called tax havens. Tax havens generate government revenue by attracting a generous amount of capital inflow and imposing fees, charges, and low tax rates. The world's top ten tax havens are Luxembourg, Cayman Islands, Isle of Man, Jersey, Ireland, Mauritius, Bermuda, Monaco, Switzerland, and the Bahamas.