Which country has the highest income taxes in the OECD?
Belgium has the highest combined income tax burden in the OECD for a well-paid single worker, with income tax taking 33.6% of gross pay and employee social contributions a further 13.8%, leaving that worker just 52.6%.
However, a high headline rate does not always mean the highest overall burden. Edoardo Magalini, analyst at the OECD and co-author of Taxing Wages 2026, notes that Denmark stands out for its high income tax rate but workers there pay almost no social security contributions, while France appears below the EU average on income tax yet carries a significant share of social contributions.1 The tax wedge, combining income tax and social contributions, is what determines how much workers actually keep.
Where does the UK rank on taxes compared to other countries?
Britain sits near the middle of the OECD take-home pay by country ranking. A well-paid single worker on 1.67 times the average wage kept 69.3% of gross pay in 2025, just below the OECD average of 69.7%. An average earner in the UK kept 76.9%, above the OECD average of 74.9%.
The UK's top statutory personal income tax rate stands at 45%, which is below Denmark's 60.5%, France's 55.4%, Austria's 55.0% and Belgium's 53.5%, but above Switzerland's 39.7% and Norway's 39.6%.3 Among Europe's major economies, according to Euronews, the UK levies above the EU average income tax rate on a single worker at the average wage, while Germany matches the EU average and Spain and France sit slightly below.1
Why do Belgian and German workers keep so little of their salary?
Belgian and German workers keep relatively little of their salary because both income tax and social security contributions are high. In Belgium, income tax takes 33.6% of a well-paid worker's gross pay and employee social contributions take a further 13.8%, leaving just 52.6%. Tax Atlas notes that Belgium's employee social security contributions run at approximately 13.07%, and that the combined top marginal rate including social security can exceed 65% for employees.4
Alex Mengden, economist at Tax Foundation, points out that differential reliance on social contributions is the main driver of country-level differences in take-home pay.1
What do economists say about tax thresholds versus tax rates?
Tax Foundation's Alex Mengden notes that governments can generally generate revenue more efficiently by leveraging marginal tax rates at the lower end of the income distribution than by using higher top rates, because high top rates negatively affect the earning incentives of all individuals from whom they raise revenue.3
John Hurley, senior research manager at Eurofound, notes that countries with higher labour tax shares tend also to have more progressive tax systems, taxing higher earners more heavily and low-wage earners less or not at all.1
How might the UK Budget change what workers take home?
The Oct 28 Budget could change what workers take home, but the government has committed not to raise the main rates of income tax, VAT or employee National Insurance. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to honour Labour's manifesto promise on those rates, meaning Chancellor John Healey will need to find other avenues to raise revenue.2
Osborne Clarke notes that Healey could consider reversing the employer National Insurance contributions rise and the lower NICs threshold introduced by Rachel Reeves from April 2025, though a reversal so soon could be politically awkward and too costly. Targeted measures, such as cutting income tax or NICs for those newly entering the job market, are also possible.2 Capital gains tax rates on shares and other assets could rise again, and the annual exempt amount could be further reduced.2 The 2025 OECD data in this chart does not include any changes made since, so any Budget announcement would affect future editions of this income tax by country comparison.