If it hurt to write that check to Uncle Sam, you’re not alone: personal income taxes have risen in 21 out of 34 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in recent years. The biggest increases overall were reported in Portugal, the Slovak Republic, and the United States.
Today, Americans pay out about a quarter of an average paycheck for federal income tax and social security taxes. Despite that hefty number – and that increase – the United States is still on the low end compared to other nations: we rank 25 out of the 34 compared to all OECD nations. The average tax burden on incomes for all OECD countries stands at 35.9%.
The increase in taxes is nothing new: most countries have reported increases in taxes for 2010, 2011, and 2012.
According to the OECD, since 2010, the tax burden has increased in 21 OECD countries.
The report from the OECD also highlighted a trend that we’re seeing in our own country: the tax system is becoming more progressive for low-income households, especially those households with children. In fact, in all OECD countries except Mexico and Chile, the tax wedge for families with children is lower than that for single individuals without children.
In contrast, single workers without children and those taxpayers at higher income levels felt the pain of taxes the most – especially in western Europe. Childless single workers earning the average wage in their country paid an average tax burden of more than half of income in Belgium (55.8%) and nearly half in Germany (49.3%), Austria (49.1%), and Hungary (49.0%). The U.S. weighed in at 31.3%, an increase of 1.2% over the last four years, ranking us just above Canada. Our neighbor to the south, Mexico, weighed in at 19.2%. H
The tax data was presented this week by OECD, a membership-based organization where governments work together to share experiences and seek solutions to common problems. Its forerunner was the Organisation for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC) which was established in 1948 to administer the U.S. efforts to assist in rebuilding Europe under the Marshall Plan. A new Convention was signed in 1960 and the OECD officially kicked off in 1961. The organization publishes more than 250 new books, 40 updated statistical databases, and thousands of new statistical tables, working papers, and journal articles each year.
Today, the current membership includes:
- Australia
- Austria
- Belgium
- Canada
- Chile
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Israël
- Italy
- Japan
- Korea
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Slovak Republic
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Turkey
- United Kingdom
- United States
Interested in how your income compares to taxpayers in those other OECD countries? You can check out the PBS interactive calculator to find your weekly pay after taxes and how it might compare with other similarly-situated taxpayers in OECD countries; a similar tool is available at the OECD but with a few more options. For more information about how your U.S. tax bill is used, you can view your White House federal taxpayer receipt.
