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Income Tax Rates Fall as Governments Compete Globally

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Income tax rates are falling as governments feel the pressure to compete due to increasing global labor mobility.

Top personal income tax rates around the world have fallen by an average of 2.5 percentage points in the past six years, according to KPMG’s Individual Income Tax Rate Survey 2008.

Worldwide, top personal tax rates have fallen from an average of 31.3% in 2003 to 28.8% in 2008. Of the 87 countries surveyed, 33 have cut their rates in the past six years, and only seven have a higher top rate in 2008 than they did in 2003.

European Union taxpayers still pay the highest rates, at an average of 36.4% compared with those of Latin America at 26.9%

The people of Denmark pay the highest tax rates, with a top rate of 59% for the whole six years surveyed.

Source: KPMG International, www.kpmg.com.