The OECD recently released its latest “Taxing Wages” report which looks at the net personal average tax rate in different countries. More specifically, that takes into account income tax and social security contributions paid by employees minus family benefits as a share of gross wages. In 2017, the average share of gross wages paid in tax was 25.5 percent across the OECD. On a country by country basis, tax rates vary tremendously and depend heavily on earnings as well as family status.
The following infographic provides an overview of the situation for the average single worker across selected countries. Germans pay a particularly high combination of income tax and social security payments at just under 40 percent of gross earnings. Despite that, they do get something in return including health insurance, pensions, old-age care and unemployment benefits. A single Italian worker would pay 21.7 percent of his or her gross earnings on income tax as well as 9.5 percent on social security, adding up to 31.2 percent in total. In the United States, tax levels are slightly lower at 18.4 and 7.7 percent of gross earnings for income tax and social security respectively. Together, they account for just over a quarter of the average wage.
*Click below to enlarge (charted by Statista)
