Description
Which countries take the biggest share of a top earner's salary? This video ranks the 50 countries with the highest top income tax rate on wages under 2026 tax rules, from Uruguay and Latvia at 36% up to Denmark at 60.5%.
Not financial or tax advice. Rates are the top statutory rate and apply only to income above each country's top threshold, shown on every card.
Chapters
0:00 #50 to #41
0:32 #40 to #21
1:38 #20 to #1
2:43 The full ranking
The full ranking
#1 Denmark: 60.5%
#2 Japan: 55.9%
#3 France: 55.4%
#4 Austria: 55%
#5 Canada: 53.5%
#6 Portugal: 53%
#7 Belgium: 52.7%
#8 Sweden: 52.4%
#9 Slovenia: 50%
#10 Israel: 50%
#11 Netherlands: 49.5%
#12 South Korea: 49.5%
#13 Spain: 48.6%
#14 Ireland: 48%
#15 Germany: 47.5%
#16 Italy: 47.2%
#17 Australia: 47%
#18 Iceland: 46.3%
#19 Luxembourg: 45.8%
#20 Finland: 45.1%
#21 United Kingdom: 45%
#22 South Africa: 45%
#23 China: 45%
#24 Greece: 44%
#25 United States: 43.7%
#26 Senegal: 43%
#27 Papua New Guinea: 42%
#28 Zimbabwe: 41.2%
#29 Switzerland: 41.0%
#30 Türkiye: 40.8%
#31 Tunisia: 40.5%
#32 Chile: 40%
#33 Taiwan: 40%
#34 Gabon: 40%
#35 Mauritania: 40%
#36 Malawi: 40%
#37 Uganda: 40%
#38 Republic of the Congo: 40%
#39 Norway: 39.8%
#40 New Zealand: 39%
#41 Colombia: 39%
#42 India: 39%
#43 Cameroon: 38.5%
#44 Suriname: 38%
#45 Morocco: 37%
#46 Namibia: 37%
#47 Ecuador: 37%
#48 Zambia: 37%
#49 Latvia: 36%
#50 Uruguay: 36%
How the ranking works
Each rate is the top statutory personal income tax rate on wages and salaries for 2026, built the way the OECD builds its Table I.7: central government income tax plus state, regional or city income tax and surcharges on income tax, such as Denmark's 8% labour market contribution, France's CSG and CRDS, Ireland's Universal Social Charge, Australia's Medicare levy and Germany's solidarity surcharge. Social security contributions are left out.
Where the local rate depends on where you live, the OECD's example location is used: Ontario for Canada, Michigan and Detroit for the U.S., the city of Zürich for Switzerland, and average municipal rates for the Nordic countries.
Every rank is unique. Countries with the same rate are ordered by total tax revenue as a share of GDP in 2023 (OECD Global Revenue Statistics; Taiwan from its Ministry of Finance).
Sovereign countries plus Taiwan are included. Aruba (52%) is part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is left out. Pakistan's 49.5% rate covers non-salaried income only; salaried workers pay at most 35%. India is shown under its default new regime (39%); the old regime tops out at 42.7%.
Sources
PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries, individual income tax pages for each country (2026)
OECD Tax Database, Table I.7, top statutory personal income tax rates
OECD Global Revenue Statistics database (tax revenue as % of GDP, 2023)
EY Worldwide Personal Tax and Immigration Guide 2025-26 (Malawi, Suriname, Zimbabwe)
Finnish Tax Administration (Vero), Statistics Sweden, IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32
Photos: Wikimedia Commons
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