Top Personal Income Tax Rates in Europe, 2022
Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) have the highest top statutory personal income tax rates among European OECD countries.
2 min read
Expert
Daniel Bunn
President and CEO
Daniel Bunn is President and CEO of the Tax Foundation. Daniel has been with the organization since 2018 and, prior to becoming President, successfully built its Center for Global Tax Policy, expanding the Tax Foundation’s reach and impact around the world.
Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Daniel worked in the United States Senate at the Joint Economic Committee as part of Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Social Capital Project and on the policy staff for both Senator Lee and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). In his time in the Senate, Daniel developed legislative initiatives on tax, trade, regulatory, and budget policy.
He has a master’s degree in Economic Policy from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from North Greenville University in South Carolina.
Daniel lives in Halethorpe, Maryland, with his wife and their three children.
Latest Work
U.S. Tax Incentives Could be Caught in the Global Minimum Tax Crossfire
The current prospect for the global minimum tax requires the attention of U.S. lawmakers. Otherwise, a tax benefit at home will just mean a tax increase abroad.
6 min read
What the U.S. Can Learn from the Adoption (and Repeal) of Wealth Taxes in the OECD
Recent discussions of a proposed wealth tax for the United States have included little information about trends in wealth taxation among other developed nations. However, those trends and the current state of wealth taxes in OECD countries can provide context for U.S. proposals.
3 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Cross-Border Tax Rules
Cross-border tax rules define how income earned abroad and by foreign entities are taxed domestically, making them an important element of each country’s tax code.
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Gift or Lump of Coal: U.S. Cross-border Tax Changes Won’t Be Home for Christmas
As 2021 comes to a close, countries are moving toward harmonizing tax rules for multinationals, but stalled talks on the Build Back Better Act in the United States means new uncertainties for a global agreement and for taxpayers.
5 min read
What Do Global Minimum Tax Rules Mean for Corporate Tax Policies?
The new OECD global minimum tax rules are complex, and some countries may opt to put them in place on top of preexisting rules for taxing multinational companies. However, countries should also consider ways to reform their existing rules in response to the minimum tax.
7 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Property Taxes
According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Consumption Taxes
According to the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Switzerland has the best-structured consumption tax among OECD countries while Poland has the worst-structured consumption tax code.
2 min read
What European OECD Countries Are Doing about Digital Services Taxes
Despite ongoing multilateral negotiations in the OECD, about half of all European OECD countries have either announced, proposed, or implemented their own unilateral digital services tax.
7 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Individual Taxes
France’s individual income tax system is the least competitive of all OECD countries. It takes French businesses on average 80 hours annually to comply with the income tax.
3 min read
Comparing Europe’s Tax Systems: Corporate Taxes
According to the corporate tax component of the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Latvia and Estonia have the best corporate tax systems in the OECD.
3 min read
How Would House Dems’ Tax Plan Change Competitiveness of U.S. Tax Code?
The legislation put forward by Democratic members of the House of Representatives would reverse many of the 2017 reforms while increasing burdens on businesses and workers.
2 min read
Movers and Shakers in the International Tax Competitiveness Index
The Index provides lessons for policymakers when they are thinking of ways to remove distortions from their tax systems and remain competitive against their peers. The further up a country moves on the Index, the more likely it is to have broader tax bases, relatively lower rates, and policies that are less distortionary to individual or business decisions. Going the other way reveals a policy preference for narrow tax bases, special tax policy tools, and rules that make it difficult for compliance.
5 min read
International Tax Competitiveness Index 2021
A well-structured tax code (that’s both competitive and neutral) is easy for taxpayers to comply with and can promote economic development while raising sufficient revenue for a government’s priorities.
40 min read
Testimony: EU Parliament Subcommittee on Tax Matters Hearing on the Impact of National Tax Reforms on the EU Economy
Tax Foundation testimony on the diversity of tax systems within the EU, three important ways to consider reforms by Member States, and several recommendations for the EU Parliament’s Subcommittee on Tax Matters to consider.
10 min read
Choose Your Own Adventure: Global Minimum Tax Edition
Over the course of the last year, it has become clear that Democratic lawmakers want to change U.S. international tax rules. However, as proposals have surfaced in recent weeks, there are clear divides among various proposals.
5 min read
Treasury Minimum Tax Argument Relies on Narrow Interpretation of Current/Proposed Rules
As Congress prepares to rewrite some portion of the current international tax rules, it’s hoped that they are able to achieve a more principled approach and one that is not so subject to obfuscation and misinterpretation.
7 min read
Tax Foundation Response to Ireland Department of Finance Consultation Document: Consultation on OECD International Tax Proposals
The recent effort to change international tax rules has been one of significant contradictions. The proposals have been driven by arguments about the need to raise additional revenues, to stabilize corporate tax rates, or to prevent offshoring. However, upon closer examination, these three arguments fail to capture what is occurring.
7 min read
Tax Foundation Comments on the Wyden, Warner, Brown Discussion Draft
The proposed restructuring of the GILTI and FDII regimes makes several changes to the tax base that are largely offsetting, leaving virtually all the revenue potential to be determined by the tax rates on GILTI and FDII and the haircuts on foreign tax credits. Lawmakers should carefully weigh the trade-offs between higher tax revenues and competitiveness.
12 min read
GILTI of Neglecting Losses
As lawmakers are reviewing international tax rules and determining what to change and update, they should pay attention to the way GILTI interacts with profitable and loss-making companies.
5 min read