# What country has the highest income tax rate in the world?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-highest-income-tax-rate-in-the-world/153878>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 9, 2003, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-highest-income-tax-rate-in-the-world/153878 "2003-02-09T13:25:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\
**Post date:** [February 13, 2003, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-country-has-the-highest-income-tax-rate-in-the-world/153878/21 "2003-02-13T02:44:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by C K Dexter Haven \*
> 
> - Note that income tax is not the only tax. In many countries, like in the U.S., Canada, China, Germany, there is federal income tax but there are also state/provincial income tax. In addition to income taxes, there are sales taxes, property taxes, and social security taxes, just to name the most common.\*\*

The OECD keeps figures on this sort of stuff - Australia has a very high marginal income tax rate (48.5% on incomes over A$60K), but due to its low indirect taxes, it tends to be one of the lowest-taxing nations in the OECD.

There’s an issue of fairness here, too - in that gradated income tax scales are progressive, putting the tax burden on those able to pay, whereas indirect taxes tend to be regressive and put the highest proportional burden on those least able - but that’s another thread.

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