As Canadians, we typically vent about the amount of money we are paying to our Governments. Every year it seems like this amount is getting larger, but we never really examine how much we are paying relative to other Nations. A recent report from the OECD ranked 37 countries based on their average tax bill. Canadians, on average, pay 31% in income tax which puts us at number 26 on the list. The U.S. & U.K come in at 32%, whereas Australia comes in at 30%. Encouragingly, the OECD average is 36% and Canada falls below that.
Many of the European nations occupy the top spots in terms of having the highest tax rates. Belgium (54%) is the highest, followed by Germany (49%). Just behind Germany are Hungary, France and Italy (48%). If you’re looking for the countries that pay the least, here they are: Mexico (20%), New Zealand (18%), and Chile (7%) are your best options.
I felt like this piece of news was interesting to give us taxpayers a perspective on where we stand.