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United States

#17 overall · Score 71.2 / 100 · down one place from 2025

Overall

#17

71.2 / 100

down one place from 2025

Corporate

#8

74.2 / 100

up two places from 2025

Individual

#17

62.7 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Consumption

#3

92.7 / 100

up one place from 2025

Property

#27

45.6 / 100

unchanged from 2025

Cross-border

#37

41.0 / 100

down two places from 2025

Notable Changes from 2025

In 2025, the US reinstated full expensing for plants and equipment and extended the policy to selected industrial buildings and structures. From 2026, the US is tightening its cross-border rules by abolishing the substance exclusion for income of US multinationals earned abroad. The US rank fell back again from 16th to 17th.

Strengths

  • The US allows for Last In, First Out treatment of the cost of inventory.
  • US companies can fully expense their investments in machinery and most industrial buildings.
  • US states have relatively low sales taxes of 7.5 percent on average.

Weaknesses

  • US states' sales taxes apply on average to less than 35 percent of the potential tax base.
  • The US has a partial territorial system and does not exempt foreign capital gains income.
  • The real property tax burden is among the highest in the OECD.

Component Scores

United States category scores out of 100Corporate Taxes: score 74.2, rank 8. Individual Taxes: score 62.7, rank 17. Consumption Taxes: score 92.7, rank 3. Property Taxes: score 45.6, rank 27. Cross-Border Tax Rules: score 41.0, rank 37255075100Corporate Taxes: 74.2 (rank 8)Individual Taxes: 62.7 (rank 17)Consumption Taxes: 92.7 (rank 3)Property Taxes: 45.6 (rank 27)Cross-Border Tax Rules: 41.0 (rank 37)CorporateIndividualConsumptionPropertyCross-border
Category Rank Score vs 2025
Corporate Taxes #8 74.2 up two places from 2025
Individual Taxes #17 62.7 unchanged from 2025
Consumption Taxes #3 92.7 up one place from 2025
Property Taxes #27 45.6 unchanged from 2025
Cross-Border Tax Rules #37 41.0 down two places from 2025

Ranking Changes, 2014–2026

United States's best overall rank was 16th and its worst was 29th. It ranks 17th in 2026.

Overall rank by year for United StatesUnited States: 2014 rank 29, 2015 rank 26, 2016 rank 26, 2017 rank 26, 2018 rank 23, 2019 rank 22, 2020 rank 23, 2021 rank 25, 2022 rank 24, 2023 rank 23, 2024 rank 17, 2025 rank 16, 2026 rank 172014201520162017201820192020202120222023202420252026United States 2014: rank 29United States 2015: rank 26United States 2016: rank 26United States 2017: rank 26United States 2018: rank 23United States 2019: rank 22United States 2020: rank 23United States 2021: rank 25United States 2022: rank 24United States 2023: rank 23United States 2024: rank 17United States 2025: rank 16United States 2026: rank 17#29#17

OECD Context

Each row places all 38 countries on a 0–100 score scale for one measure. United States 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

Across the OECD

United States ranks 17th of 38 OECD countries 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.