Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Taxes Around the World

Evaluation of taxes is a tricky business. The maximum rate doesn't tell the whole story. In the US some states have income taxes of their own that add to the Federal maximum rate of 35%, and many have sales taxes. When you look at the table below, you will see Individual taxes, Corporate taxes and VAT, Value Added Tax. When you look at the corporate tax rate for, say, France, you will read "33.33%". Is that the effective tax rate when compared with the US corporate rate of 15% to 35%? It is not. As it happens, the US allows many more deductions to income than most countries, the US maximum rate doesn't begin until a corporation has made more than $18 million after all deductions which include the god-awful multi-million dollar salaries paid. It also does not include the French VAT of 19.6%. To make life more complicated, if a French firms sells products in France, the maximum corporate tax rate is 54% BUT if the same firm sell outside of Europe, the tax rate is the face rate of 33.33%. In any event, when you read the table, add the VAT to the corporate rate to get the maximum, in-country rate. But wait! You can't compare that to the US rate of 35% -- you must adjust the US rate UP for the sales tax rate in the state you choose to consider.

Remember, my summary is greatly over-simplified. There are all sorts of rules, exceptions, avoidance devices and so on for US law. And there are lots of strange laws in other countries, too, you can bet on it. Tomorrow I'll present an example of a product made in England with the changes in prices caused by tax policy in each country. Brazil, for instance, taxes everything that is imported. Everything.  Now for the table.



                       Corp           Individual       VAT
Argentina
35%
9-35%
21%
Australia
30%
17-45%
10%GST
25%
21%-50%
20%
Belarus
26.28%
12%
20%
Belgium
33.99%
25-50%
21%
34%
7.5-27.5%
17-25%
10%
10%
20%
16.5%(federal)
15-29%(Federal)
5%(gst)
25%
5-45%
17%
19%
15%
20%
Denmark
25%
38-59%
25%
Egypt
20%
10-20%
10%gst
26%
6.5-30%
23%
33.33%
5.5-40%
19.6%
30-33%(effective)
14-45%
19%
24%
0-45%
23%
10/19%
17% and 32%
25%
30-40%
10-30%
12.5%
28%
5-30%
10%
12.5%
20-41%
21%
24%
10-45%
16%
31.4%
23%-43%
20%
30%
5-50%
5%(consump)
Mexico
30%
0-28%
16%
20-25.5%
0-52%
19%
New Zealand
30%
0-39%
15%gst
Norway
28%
28-49%
25%
Pakistan
35%
0-25%
15%
Panama
27.5%
15-25%
7%
Philippines
30%
5-32%
12%
19%
18%/32%
23%
12.5/25%
0-42%
23%
16%
16%
24%
20%
13%
18%
Saudi Arabia
20%
20%
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Singapore
17%
3.5%-20%
7% (gst)
South Africa
28%
0-40%
14%
30%
24-45%
18%
Sweden
26.3%
0-57%
25%
Switzerland
12.5-24%
0-11.5% (federal)
8%
20%
15-35%
18%
28%
0-50%
20%
23%
15/17%
20%
15-35%
15-35%
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