Belgium has highest tax rate of OECD states

30 March 2006

BRUSSELS — Income tax in Belgium is one of the highest in the industrial world, OECD figures revealed on Thursday.

Out of 30 industrial lands examined by the OECD, Belgium was found to have the highest income tax rates for an average family.

A married, double-income family with two children paid 48.2 percent in income tax last year, newspaper ‘De Tijd’ reported on Thursday.

The OECD calculated tax rates for eight types of families and found that Belgium had the highest rate of tax for four family types.

These families are: if you are single with no kids and have a low, average or high income, you pay the highest rate of tax across the 30 nations studied. An average family with two working parents and two children also pays the highest rate.

Belgium is also ranked in the top five for the other four family categories.

The federal government taxed an average family 48.2 percent last year, 3.4 percent above Germany. Sweden is ranked third with 44 percent. South Korean families fare the best, paying just 16.1 percent in income tax.

The Belgian tax burden on an average family is 12.1 percent higher than the average of the 15 old EU member states and 15.8 percent above the average of the 30 OECD states studied.

The tax burden fell for most families between 2000 and 2005 in Belgium, but not enough for the nation to fall in the OECD rankings. Income tax rates across in most OECD and EU states have also declined in the past five years.

Subject: Belgian news