Top earners in G7 pay over 60% more in income tax
compared with those in BRIC countries

Yet almost no difference between lower income tax payers in G7 and BRIC countries

Russia has lowest rate for top earners

High earners on an income of 1.5million USD in G7 countries pay over 60% more in income tax than those in BRIC economies, according to new research by UHY International, the international accountancy network*.

For individuals earning 1.5 million USD per annum in the G7, they pay on average 719,751 USD in tax (47.9% effective tax rate) compared with 446,883 USD in tax (29.8% effective tax rate) in BRIC countries.

UHY says G7 countries risk losing out on substantial tax receipts if their tax regimes become uncompetitive for wealthy individuals and they look to relocate their businesses to lower-tax jurisdictions, taking jobs and economic growth with them.

G7 countries including France, Canada the US and UK, have all recently taken measures to reduce or withdraw top rate tax bands imposed following the financial crisis. In 2014 for example, France’s rate of 45.8% (on a $1.5m income), was substantially higher than the current rate of 40.0%. In 2014, the French government also decided to scrap the country’s 75% marginal rate on incomes above €1 million.

The new British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said during his campaign for Conservative party leader, that he would cut taxes for higher earners by raising the 40% income tax threshold from 50,000 GBP to 80,000 GBP.

Outside the G7 and BRIC countries, other emerging economies continue to offer some of the most generous tax regimes to high earners**. In Nigeria and Pakistan for instance, those earning 1.5million USD, would pay just 19% and 25% income tax respectively.

Out of all the countries studied, Russia had the lowest income tax rate, where all tax payers, including high earners, pay just 13% income tax.

Denmark taxes individuals earning 1.5 million USD, over half of their income – 53.2% in total – ranking the highest among the 30 countries studied, followed by Japan, The Netherlands, Canada and Ireland.

Denmark’s high taxes are used to pay for the Danish welfare system, where higher education and healthcare are free for all citizens. The Danish welfare model also provides young families with long periods of parental leave (up to 52 weeks) and inexpensive childcare facilities.

UHY says another reason why the income tax burden on employees in Denmark is high is because the vast majority of social security contributions are borne by the employee rather than the employer. In other countries, such as Sweden and France, more of the social security costs are shifted onto the employer.

Lower income taxpayers

For lower income taxpayers earning 25,000 USD, there is almost no difference between the amount of tax paid among the G7 and BRIC countries. A taxpayer earning 25,000 USD in a G7 country would pay 16.5% income tax on earnings, compared to 16.4% for a worker in a BRIC economy.

Emerging economies average a tax rate of 23.5% on a 25,000 USD income, far in excess of the 16.5% average among the G7 or the 19.2% average in Europe**. This reflects the lower average cost of living in BRIC economies compared with in the G7.

There are signs, however, that some emerging economies are moving towards lower income tax rates for lower incomes as they grow. In China for example the effective rate for individuals earning 25,000 USD has been cut substantially over the last five years – when UHY last studied taxation of income, the tax rate for an individual earning 25,000 USD stood at 10.8% compared with just 5.1% today.

Rick David, Chairman of UHY International, says:

“Taxes on the top earners residing in G7 economies have eased off slightly since the changes imposed after the financial crisis.”

“Many Western European governments are still concerned though that their jurisdictions may become uncompetitive given the low tax rates in other developing jurisdictions so a number of countries have now taken steps to reduce their top rate of tax.”

“However as developing countries mature and their middle classes expand, governments may decide to increase their marginal rates of tax on higher earners to meet greater demand for public services. This is beginning to happen in Asian countries such as India and China which have gradually been taxing higher incomes more and lower incomes less.”

“Over time, as the population of developing countries becomes wealthier, this tax disparity between the G7 and BRIC economies could reduce.”

*UHY studied tax data in 30 countries across its international network. The study captured the ‘take home pay’ for low (25,000 USD), middle (250,000 USD) and high income workers (1,500,000 USD), taking into account personal taxes and social security contributions. The calculations are based on a single, unmarried taxpayer with no children.

**Emerging economies studied included Russia, China, Romania, Zambia, Uruguay, India, Vietnam, The Philippines, Poland, Argentina, Pakistan and Nigeria

Ranked by amount of tax to the government in percentage

   1.5 million USD
Rank Country Take home
pay USD
% of pay
received
after tax
Tax deducted
USD
Tax deducted
%
1 DENMARK  702,650 46.8%  797,350 53.2%
2 JAPAN  716,886 48.0%  783,114 52.0%
3 NETHERLANDS  734,730 48.0%  765,270 52.0%
4 CANADA  722,420 48.2%  777,579 51.8%
5 IRELAND  735,287 49.0%  764,523 51.0%
6 GERMANY  740,354 49.4%  759,646 50.6%
7 BELGIUM  749,150 50.6%  750,850 49.4%
8 UNITED STATES  776,502 52.0%  723,498 48.0%
9 ISRAEL  783,286 52.0%  716,714 48.0%
- G7 AVERAGE  780,249 52.1%  719,751 47.9%
10 ITALY  799,932 53.0%  700,068 47.0%
11 UNITED KINGDOM  808,779 53.9%  691,221 46.1%
- EU 4 AVERAGE  821,396 54.7%  678,604 45.3%
- EUROPEAN AVERAGE  835,922 55.8%  661,576 44.2%
12 AUSTRALIA  841,662 56.0%  658,338 44.0%
13 SPAIN  848,431 56.6%  651,568 43.4%
14 CHINA  855,107 57.0%  644,892 43.0%
15 ROMANIA  877,500 58.5%  622,500 41.5%
16 FRANCE  896,868 60.0%  603,132 40.0%
17 ZAMBIA  937,626 63.0%  562,373 37.0%
18 URUGUAY  957,575 64.0%  542,425 36.0%
19 INDIA  964,959 64.0%  535,041 35.7%
20 VIETNAM  975,00 65.0%  525,000 35.0%
21 PHILIPPINES  982,358 65.0%  517,642 35.0%
22 POLAND  990,704 66.1%  476,949 33.9%
23 CROATIA  997,762 66.7%  502,238 33.3%
24 MALTA  984,833 67.0%  515,167 33.0%
25 NEW ZEALAND  1,011,195 67.0%  488,804 33.0%
26 ARGENTINA  1,035,220 69.0%  464,780 31.0%
- BRIC AVERAGE  1,053,166 70.1%  446,833 29.8%
27 BRAZIL  1,087,599 72.5%  412,400 27.5%
28 PAKISTAN  1,131,107 75.0%  368,893 25.0%
29 NIGERIA  1,216,173 81.0%  283,826 19.0%
30 RUSSIAN FEDERATION  1,305,000 87.0%  195,000 13.0%
    250,000 USD  
Rank Country Take home
pay USD
% of pay
received
after tax
Tax deducted
USD
Tax deducted
%
1 DENMARK 130,180 52.0%  119,820 47.9%
2 GERMANY 132,306 52.9%  117,694 47.1%
3 NETHERLANDS 131,510 52.6%  118,490 47.0%
4 BELGIUM 132,681 53.6%  117,319 46.4%
5 IRELAND 135,363 54.0%  114,637 46.0%
6 ITALY 140,226 56.0%  109,774 44.0%
7 CANADA 141,545 56.6%  108,454 43.4%
8 ROMANIA 146,250 58.5%  103,750 41.5%
9 UNITED KINGDOM 146,279 58.5%  103,721 41.5%
- G7 AVERAGE 148,493 59.4%  101,507 40.6%
- EUROPEAN COUNRTIES 148,516 59.5%  100,398 40.4%
- EU 4 AVERAGE 149,551 59.8%  100,449 40.2%
10 URUGUAY 152,950 61.0%  97,050 39.0%
11 UNITED STATES 154,639 62.0%  95,361 38.0%
12 ZAMBIA 156,376 62.6%  93,623 37.0%
13 AUSTRALIA 156,512 63.0%  93,488 37.0%
14 ISRAEL 158,286 63.0%  91,714 37.0%
15 JAPAN 159,718 64.0%  90,282 36.0%
16 SPAIN 160,931 64.4%  89,068 35.6%
17 INDIA 163,459 65.0%  86,541 34.6%
18 VIETNAM 165,000 66.0%  85,000 34.0%
19 FRANCE 164,793 66.0%  85,261 34.0%
20 POLAND 165,400  66.2%  84,600 33.8%
21 CHINA 167,608 67.0%  82,392 33.0%
22 PHILIPPINES 169,858 68.0%  80,142 32.0%
23 MALTA 172,283 69.0%  77,717 31.0%
24 ARGENTINA 172,720 69.0%  77,280 31.0%
25 NEW ZEALAND 173,694 69.0%  76,305 31.0%
26 CROATIA 172,562 70.3%  77,438 29.7%
27 BRAZIL 181,349 72.5%  68,650 27.5%
- BRIC AVERAGE 182,479 72.9%  67,521 27.0%
28 PAKISTAN 193,607 77.0%  56,393 23.0%
29 NIGERIA 203,173 81.0%  46,826 19.0%
30 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 217,500 87.0%  32,500 13.0%

For lower income taxpayers earning US$25,000, there is almost no difference between the amount of tax paid among the G7 and BRIC country averages

25,000 USD
Rank Country Take home
pay USD
% of pay
received
after tax
Tax deducted
USD
tax deducted
%
1 URUGUAY 13,012 52.0% 11,988 48.0%
2 ROMANIA 14,625 58.5% 10,375 41.5%
3 ZAMBIA 15,751 63.0% 9,248 37.0%
4 GERMANY 17,438 69.8% 7,562 30.3%
5 POLAND 17,630 70.5% 7,370 29.5%
6 BRAZIL 19,325 77.3% 5,675 22.7%
7 DENMARK 18,151 72.0% 6,849 27.0%
8 ARGENTINA 18,616 74.0% 6,384 26.0%
9 PHILIPPINES 19,575 78.0% 5,425 22.0%
10 ITALY 19,613 78.0% 5,387 21.5%
11 BELGIUM 19,664 79.9% 5,336 21.1%
12 INDIA 19,947 80.0% 5,053 20.2%
- EUROPEAN AVERAGE 20,210 80.8% 4,789 19.2%
13 CANADA 20,417 81.7% 4,582 18.3%
14 UNITED STATES 20,424 82.0% 4,576 18.0%
15 VIETNAM 20,500 82.0% 4,500 18.0%
- EU 4 AVERAGE 20,866 83.3% 4,134 16.6%
- G7 AVERAGE 20,780 83.4% 4,130 16.5%
- BRIC AVERAGE 20,912 83.7% 4,088 16.4%
16 NIGERIA 20,905 84.0% 4,094 16.0%
17 NEW ZEALAND 21,293 85.0% 3,706 15.0%
18 CROATIA 21,314 85.3% 3,686 14.7%
19 UNITED KINGDOM 21,324 85.3% 3,676 14.7%
20 RUSSIAN FEDERATION 21,750 87.0% 3,250 13.0%
21 MALTA 21,805 87.0% 3,195 13.0%
22 NETHERLANDS 22,323 89.0% 2,677 11.0%
23 IRELAND 22,438 90.0% 2,558 10.0%
24 SPAIN 22,577 90.3% 2,422 9.7%
25 AUSTRALIA 22,747 91.0% 2,253 9.0%
26 JAPAN 23,042 92.0% 1,958 8.0%
27 PAKISTAN 23,332 93.0% 1,669 7.0%
28 CHINA 23,727 94.9% 1,272 5.1%
29 FRANCE 23,834 95.0% 1,166 5.0%
30 ISRAEL 24,214 97.0% 786 3.0%