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United Kingdom

#30 overall · Score 61.9 / 100 · up one place from 2025

Overall

#30

61.9 / 100

up one place from 2025

Corporate

#25

59.3 / 100

up one place from 2025

Individual

#22

59.5 / 100

up one place from 2025

Consumption

#34

42.6 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Property

#33

38.7 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Cross-border

#1

100.0 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Strengths

  • The UK provides full expensing for business investments in machinery and above-average cost recovery for investments in intangible assets.
  • The UK has a territorial tax system exempting both foreign dividends and capital gains income without any country limitations.
  • The UK operates the broadest tax treaty network in the OECD with 135 countries.

Weaknesses

  • The top personal income tax rate on dividends is 39.35 percent, while the top rate on capital gains is 24 percent, well above the OECD averages of 24.7 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.
  • The real property tax burden on businesses and households is the highest in the OECD.
  • The VAT at a rate of 20 percent applies to less than half of the potential consumption tax base, and the VAT exemption threshold is 2.4 times as high as the OECD average.

Component Scores

United Kingdom category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 59.3, rank 25. Individual Taxes: score 59.5, rank 22. Consumption Taxes: score 42.6, rank 34. Property Taxes: score 38.7, rank 33. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 100.0, rank 1255075100Corporate Taxes: 59.3 (rank 25)Individual Taxes: 59.5 (rank 22)Consumption Taxes: 42.6 (rank 34)Property Taxes: 38.7 (rank 33)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 100.0 (rank 1)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #25 59.3 up one place from 2025
Individual Taxes #22 59.5 up one place from 2025
Consumption Taxes #34 42.6 unchanged from 2025
Property Taxes #33 38.7 unchanged from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #1 100.0 unchanged from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

United Kingdom's best overall rank was 23rd and its worst was 31st. It ranks 30th in 2026.

Overall rank by year for United KingdomUnited Kingdom: 2014 rank 28, 2015 rank 27, 2016 rank 29, 2017 rank 31, 2018 rank 31, 2019 rank 27, 2020 rank 28, 2021 rank 24, 2022 rank 23, 2023 rank 30, 2024 rank 29, 2025 rank 31, 2026 rank 302014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026United Kingdom 2014: rank 28United Kingdom 2015: rank 27United Kingdom 2016: rank 29United Kingdom 2017: rank 31United Kingdom 2018: rank 31United Kingdom 2019: rank 27United Kingdom 2020: rank 28United Kingdom 2021: rank 24United Kingdom 2022: rank 23United Kingdom 2023: rank 30United Kingdom 2024: rank 29United Kingdom 2025: rank 31United Kingdom 2026: rank 30#28#30

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. United Kingdom is highlighted; the dashed line is the OECD median.

All 38 Countries' Ranks

Overall and category ranks for all 38 countries
CountryOverallCorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Estonia#1#2#1#24#1#7
Latvia#2#1#8#22#4#6
New Zealand#3#31#7#1#8#14
Switzerland#4#7#9#4#36#2
Lithuania#5#3#10#23#6#16
Luxembourg#6#20#21#7#15#5
Czech Republic#7#9#4#32#5#11
Australia#8#29#14#9#3#23
Turkey#9#21#6#15#22#8
Hungary#10#5#3#38#23#4
Israel#11#11#31#11#10#18
Slovak Republic#12#24#2#33#7#17
Sweden#13#6#18#26#9#12
Costa Rica#14#35#13#6#11#29
Canada#15#17#28#8#25#28
Netherlands#16#23#30#14#20#3
United States#17#8#17#3#27#37
Austria#18#18#27#17#17#10
Germany#19#30#34#13#12#9
Norway#20#15#29#27#16#15
Mexico#21#28#26#12#2#38
Finland#22#10#24#28#21#24
Greece#23#22#5#29#30#19
Chile#24#32#23#10#13#36
Slovenia#25#14#12#30#24#30
Korea#26#26#38#2#31#34
Belgium#27#16#15#25#28#21
Japan#28#36#35#5#26#31
Ireland#29#4#36#35#18#27
United Kingdom#30#25#22#34#33#1
Denmark#31#19#37#20#14#32
Poland#32#12#11#36#29#25
Portugal#33#34#19#21#19#33
Iceland#34#13#32#19#34#26
Spain#35#33#20#18#35#20
Italy#36#27#16#37#38#22
Colombia#37#37#25#16#37#35
France#38#38#33#31#32#13

Among European Peers

United Kingdom ranks 20th of 27 European OECD members on the overall index.

Source: 2026 International Tax Competitiveness Index.

Notes on the Data

The 2026 Index uses the most up-to-date data available as of July 2026. Data may not reflect changes in countries making rapid reforms.

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About the Authors

Alex Mengden Tax Foundation
Expert

Alex Mengden

Economist

Alex Mengden is an Economist at the Tax Foundation, where he focuses on international tax issues and tax policy in Europe. He holds a BA in philosophy and economics from the University of Bayreuth and an MSc in economics from the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

Tax Foundation Staff

Luis Zarka

Transatlantic Tax Fellow

Luis Zarka was a 2026 Transatlantic Tax Fellow with the Tax Foundation’s Center for Global Tax Policy.

Media Contacts

Sarah Wilbur Tax Foundation Media Relations Contact

Sarah Wilbur

Communications Manager

Sarah Wilbur is Communications Manager at the Tax Foundation where she advances the organization’s institutional reach by developing its corporate communications and media programs.

Jesse Solis Tax Foundation

Jesse Solis

Vice President of Communications

Jesse Solis is Vice President of Communications at the Tax Foundation, where he leads the communications team and works to build coverage of Tax Foundation’s experts and their work across the globe. He joined the team in 2021 as Communications Manager and became Communications Director in 2024.