Top Personal Income Tax Rates in Europe, 2025
Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) levy the highest top personal income tax rates in Europe.
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Denmark (55.9 percent), France (55.4 percent), and Austria (55 percent) levy the highest top personal income tax rates in Europe.
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More than 175 countries worldwide—including all major European countries—levy a value-added tax (VAT) on goods and services. EU Member States’ VAT rates vary across countries, though they’re somewhat harmonized by the EU.
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Some European countries have raised their statutory corporate rates over the past year, including Czechia, Estonia, Iceland, Lithuania, and Slovenia.
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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.
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A few European countries have made changes to their VAT rates, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Switzerland, and Turkey.
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Like most regions around the world, European countries have experienced a decline in corporate income tax rates over the past four decades, but the average corporate income tax rate has leveled off in recent years.
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Estonia has the most competitive individual tax system in the OECD for the 10th consecutive year.
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According to the corporate tax component of the 2023 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Latvia and Estonia have the best corporate tax systems in the OECD.
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High property taxes levied not only on land but also on buildings and structures can discourage investment in infrastructure, which businesses would have to pay additional tax on.
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As Oktoberfest celebrations kick off around the world, let’s look at how much tax European Union (EU) countries add to the world’s favorite alcoholic beverage.
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In recent years, several countries have taken measures to reduce carbon emissions, including instituting environmental regulations, emissions trading systems, and carbon taxes. In 1990, Finland was the world’s first country to introduce a carbon tax.
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Carryover tax provisions help businesses “smooth” their risk and income, making the tax code more neutral across investments and over time.
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The aim of patent boxes is generally to encourage and attract local research and development (R&D) and to incentivize businesses to locate IP in the country. However, patent boxes can introduce another level of complexity to a tax system, and some recent research questions whether patent boxes are actually effective in driving innovation.
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Capital allowances play an important role in a country’s corporate tax base and can impact investment decisions—with far-reaching economic consequences.
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As the EU pursues massive changes in public policy as part of its green transition, expect fuel taxes to be central to any policy discussions.
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It’s unlikely these implemented and proposed windfall taxes will achieve their goals of raising additional revenues without distorting the market. Instead, they would penalize domestic production and punitively target certain industries without a sound tax base.
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In most European OECD countries, corporate income is taxed twice, once at the entity level and once at the shareholder level.
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To make the taxation of labor more efficient, policymakers should understand the inputs into the tax wedge, and taxpayers should understand how their tax burden funds government services.
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Instead of reforming and hiking the wealth tax, perhaps policymakers should consider whether the tax is serving its intended objectives, and, if not, consider repealing the tax altogether.
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As tempting as inheritance, estate, and gift taxes might look—especially when the OECD notes them as a way to reduce wealth inequality—their limited capacity to collect revenue and their negative impact on entrepreneurial activity, saving, and work should make policymakers consider their repeal instead of boosting them.
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Many countries incentivize business investment in research and development (R&D), intending to foster innovation. A common approach is to provide direct government funding for R&D activity. However, a significant number of jurisdictions also offers R&D tax incentives.
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In many countries, corporate profits are subject to two layers of taxation: the corporate income tax at the entity level when the corporation earns income, and the dividend tax or capital gains tax at the individual level when that income is passed to its shareholders as either dividends or capital gains.
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