On a global level, the five countries with the most complex accounting and tax systems are: Argentina, Bolivia, Greece, Brazil and Turkey, while the five least complex are: the British Virgin Islands, Denmark, Curacao, Switzerland and Hong Kong.
1. Brazil. Brazil once again tops the ranking as the most complex jurisdiction after being at number one in 2021. The key drivers of complexity in Brazil are the volume of regulatory changes each year, as well as the three layers of tax regimes to comply with – federal, state and municipality.
UAE is credited for having one of the easiest tax systems in the whole world. Taxpayers processing their tax returns are always motivated by the short time it takes to pay tax. It takes only 12 hours in a year to complete the process of paying tax in UAE.
The question is: why does the UK have the longest tax code in the world? The Hong Kong tax code, widely held by tax lawyers to be the most admirably efficient in the world, is 276 pages long. The British tax code, rapidly beginning to look like the most disingenuous in the world, is currently in excess of 17,000 pages.
One of the main causes of complexity is the increasing use of the tax system by governments to achieve social and political goals rather than simply using tax systems for what they are good at – raising revenue for government spending.
Second, relative to other countries, the U.K.'s 50 percent tax rate for high earners is uncompetitive, while the U.S. top rate of 35 percent is still highly competitive. Within Europe, only a few Scandinavian countries have a higher tax rate than 50 percent.
Unrealised capital gain, that is the increase in value of an asset before it is sold. Unrealised capital gains are generally not taxed and this allows rich people to accrue value from their assets without having to pay tax on it.
Based on 2019 data and including state taxes, we are the eighth-lowest country in the OECD for tax collection relative to our economy's size, with tax revenue at 28% of GDP compared with the OECD average of 33%.
Australia has the second-highest tax slug on personal income and business profits combined out of 34 of the world's leading economies, new figures show, renewing pressure on the Morrison government to embark on substantial tax reform to stimulate the soft economy.
The Qatari government earns a surplus of revenue from oil and natural gas, which eliminates its need for an income tax. With so much revenue, Alaska has no need to levy an income tax, and the same goes for oil-rich countries like Oman and Qatar.
Is Dubai a tax-free country? Yes, Dubai is a tax-free nation when it comes to imposing income tax on most of its citizens. However, if you own an oil business, there is a tax rate of 55%.
About 5,000 years ago, we see the first record of taxation in ancient Egypt, where the Pharaoh collected a tax equivalent to 20 percent of all grain harvests.
The main reason Australia ranks so highly on individual income tax levels is because Australians don't pay separate social security taxes. These account for an average 25.9% of total tax revenue, or close to 9% of GDP, across the OECD.
Australia's 2020 tax-to-GDP ratio ranked it 30th¹ out of 38 OECD countries in terms of the tax- to-GDP ratio compared with the 2021 figures. In 2020 Australia had a tax-to-GDP ratio of 28.5%, compared with the OECD average of 34.1% in 2021 and 33.6% in 2020.
Conclusion. The tax rates in Australia are among the highest in the world. Compared to the US, high earners will be paying far higher rates on much lower incomes. However, compared to the UK, Australia's tax rates are on par, or slightly lower.
Victoria is officially the highest taxing state or territory in Australia as the Andrews government and councils pocketed an extra $7 billion last financial year in land tax, stamp duty, rates and other charges.
Sixty-six people earned more than $1 million and paid no income tax in 2020-21, while the majority of Australia's highest earners reside in Sydney's eastern suburbs, according to newly released figures by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
Foreign residents in Australia have no tax-free threshold. Key Takeaway: You will have to pay less tax on income in Australia, than you would in Canada. Generous government benefits in terms of food security and health benefits are offered in Canada. Moreover cost of living is a bit lower when compared with Australia.
The highest-earning Americans pay the most in combined federal, state and local taxes, the Tax Foundation noted.
In 2020, the latest year with available data, the top 1 percent of income earners earned 22 percent of all income and paid 42 percent of all federal income taxes – more than the bottom 90 percent combined (37 percent).
The UK is in the middle of the pack when it comes to how much tax it raises overall. But many other European countries have much higher taxes on workers' salaries. For example, if the UK imported the French tax system, not 28% but 48% of the cost of employing someone on £28,000 would be paid in tax.
Both Australia and the UK apply progressive rates of tax, ranging from 0 per cent to 45 per cent. While Australia has a standard initial tax-free threshold ($18,200 of income) for all taxpayers, the UK uses a system of allowances that taxpayers deduct from their income before tax is assessed.