Income tax rates around the world

The following graphic from The Economist shows how much a worker earning US$100,000 in various countries would lose in income tax and social security contributions. However, as is common with these graphics, sometimes the countries you are really interested in are not shown. In this case, a little extra work can result in a fantastic teaching resource!

For many of you, not having the UK figures to compare would be an issue and unfortunately New Zealand (for me) rarely gets a mention in these graphics. Luckily, the KPMG report from which these graphics are compiled cam be downloaded here.

This report is a fantastic resource and includes the above information for a wide range of countries as well as income tax rates in tables and in graphical form. You can either put together the information you are interested in yourself, or better yet get the students to do it for you! An interesting point that I got out of it was the changes to the top income tax rates over the last year. For example, in New Zealand the top rate has recently come down from 39% to 33%. However, the UK has gone in the opposite direction, increasing from 40% to 50%.