Countries with the Highest Taxes

Can you name the countries that collect the most tax as a percentage of GDP?

According to the Heritage Foundation. Source.

Includes federal, regional, and local government

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Last updated: March 25, 2021

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First submitted	May 13, 2014
Times taken	77,673
Average score	80.0%
Rating	4.35

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%	Continent	Country
46.1	Europe	France
44.9	Europe	Denmark
44.9	Europe	Belgium
43.9	Europe	Sweden
43.5	North America	Cuba
42.7	Europe	Finland
42.2	Europe	Austria
42.1	Europe	Italy
40.1	Europe	Luxembourg
39.0	Europe	Norway

%	Continent	Country
38.8	Europe	Netherlands
38.7	Europe	Greece
38.4	Europe	Montenegro
38.2	Europe	Germany
37.2	Africa	Algeria
36.7	Europe	Iceland
36.6	Europe	Hungary
36.4	Europe	Slovenia
35.4	Europe	Portugal
35.3	Europe	Czech Republic

+101

Level ∞

Mar 25, 2021

If you're going to post about politics, at least be polite.

My advise to the typical young person who is interested in politics:

Remember that somewhere in the world there is someone who is both smarter than you and more knowledgeable than you, and has completely opposite political views. This person might even be a friend, a family member, or a future version of yourself. With that in mind, why are you so sure of yourself? Spend less time talking, more time learning.

Level 84

May 28, 2014

Made a completely random guess at 2 seconds left with Lesotho... Bit of a fluke there.

Level 75

Apr 15, 2019

I had the same fluke - no idea how I pulled that one out.

+38

Level 78

May 28, 2014

Keep in mind the source for this, the very right-wing Heritage Foundation. Zimbabwe as number one is especially ridiculous as the only real economy is a shadow economy which cannot be accurately assessed. And although no, I'm not a big fan of taxes, there is a strong correlation (always exceptions) with quality of life, especially maternal and child health care. Nordic countries especially make effective use of what they collect. (I wish we in the US could say the same.)

Level 67

Sep 13, 2016

Thank you for posting this out. An astute observation. I myself am a centrist, but it is definitely noteworthy that this information comes from a source with a demonstrably strong bias.

+11

Level ∞

Feb 28, 2019

The data seems accurate, and if anything would seem to go against their anti-tax agenda as the "better" countries tend to have higher tax rates. I've seen other sources for this data on the internet and they are very poor, IMHO, often leaving out the impact of local and regional taxes. Credit where its due, the Heritage Foundation has compiled a very strong data source. But don't listen to me. The source is listed, you can check it out for yourself.

+12

Level 67

Apr 15, 2021

I have to chuckle at my comment, which was made two months before the 2016, when I did indeed consider myself a centrist. I don't think my views have changed much, but I haven't really been able to countenance anything the Republican party has done pretty much since I made this comment. I guess that makes me liberal now? Funny how that works.

Level 47

Apr 19, 2021

The overton window has passed you to your right.

+14

Level 84

Mar 19, 2019

What does "very right wing" even mean in this context? The data is the data. Total tax collections are a pretty straightforward measurement.

+13

Level 70

Apr 15, 2019

It means that the organisation that collected and published the data was specifically set up as a "conservative think tank", was intended to support a political ideology further right than that of Richard Nixon, and has affiliations to the Republican Party (according to Wikipedia). It is possible that some of the decisions they made about how to measure the GDP and what to count as tax would have been intended to support a political agenda, but as @QM says that doesn't seem to be the case.

Level 44

Apr 15, 2021

Would Nixon even be considered right by today's standards? Wasn't he responsible for the inception of the EPA and for the thawing of relations with the PRC?

Level 44

Apr 19, 2021

He signed the bill creating the EPA into law, but he was not responsible for its creation; creating a whole new executive branch is not something the President has the power to do.

As for China, yes he did oversee the opening of China with the world, though this can hardly be construed as a left-wing goal when many right-wing Cold warriors supported this because of the opportunities for trade and isolating the Soviet Union after the Sino-Soviet split.

Nixon was not ideological, he was on the whole quite moderate and pragmatic, but still firmly right of center.

Level 76

Jul 21, 2021

Aside from what he was, he would be seen almost as a socialist these days.

Level 91

Jun 20, 2014

Well, I guess I'll have to change my response the next time I'm faced with a tax increase and threaten to move to Zimbabwe...

Level 70

Oct 10, 2014

i cant believe zimbabwe..... is on here

Level 71

Nov 1, 2015

There is a high base-rate in Zimbabwe before which tax is zero or very small, whereas if you earn more money you come under the High Tax rate. This is to make the owners of land who are earning money on crops or animal tending pay up big time.

+15

Level ∞

Jul 1, 2016

Zimbabwe is no longer on the list. While I'm sure the government of Zimbabwe would love to confiscate nearly 100% of the wealth of the country, it's likely that their incompetence prevents them from doing so.

Level 63

Jan 7, 2015

Funny thing is, I tried South Africa but not any of its neighboring countries...I could've done so much better.

Level 45

Jun 1, 2015

Why not switzerland ? Leaving this country, I can assure you that we have almost the highest taxes of the world.....

+27

Level 31

Jul 24, 2016

Is that why your known internationally as a bit of a tax haven? ;0)

+13

Level 58

Dec 24, 2016

The Swiss are probably like Australians - forever complaining that they have the highest taxes in the world. Obviously not true.

Level 65

Oct 24, 2019

Maybe not the highest in %, but in total $ paid probably still in the top 10 due to high income.

Level 93

Mar 5, 2022

Using the Swiss government website tax calculator, with 100,000CHF income and 550,000CHF wealth in Geneva it said tax was 21000 including all income/wealth taxes per year i.e. 21%. Zurich was only around 15%. Swiss sales tax is 7.7% so I'd expect the GDP % amount to be somewhere just below 30%. Haven't looked at all possibilities but definitely can be lower than the other European countries here.

Level ∞

Feb 28, 2019

Switzerland is ranked #50.

Level 79

Apr 15, 2019

Quiz is not about rate of tax but percentage of GDP.

Level 55

Nov 1, 2015

I must have typed every Eastern European country there is, surprised that none of them came up. Then I saw I had only not typed Hungary, the only one that makes the list.

Level 33

Sep 11, 2016

I was going to put Lesotho, but thought "nah, its probably not one of them." Never second guess yourself kids.

Level 60

Apr 15, 2019

Totally me. I put in eSwatini and was like "Nah, all of them are from Europe. Can't be any other African one like Lesotho. pffffffttt".

Level 63

Sep 12, 2016

I guess this explains why Legos are so expensive....

Level 66

Apr 15, 2021

most the the lego pieces are actually made in factory in Czechia. But yeah, Denmark has high taxes, but people don't complain because what they get is good social security, free health care and free education. And it's worth it.

+16

Level 62

Dec 10, 2016

Most of the countries with high tax rates have low levels of social problems. Fancy that.

Level 66

Apr 15, 2019

Perhaps being rich makes it easier to avoid social problems? Do you think the trouble in, say, Sierra Leone, is that its tax rates are too low? That Singapore would finally eradicate its last social problem if it could just get its tax rates a bit higher?

Level 55

Apr 20, 2019

Could it be because they are more homogeneous places? Political correctness (see diversity) aside, is it probable/possible that the more homogeneous the society, the less trouble?

+12

Level 70

Dec 7, 2019

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by "homogeneous" but if you mean what I think you mean then no, the countries on this list are not particularly "homogeneous".

Level 78

Mar 25, 2021

North Korea is the most homogeneous country in the world and is in deep trouble. South Korea is the second most homogeneous country in the world and is highly developed.

Level 71

Apr 25, 2022

I don't think it's a cause and effect relationship though, in either direction. It's more likely that it's just because both low levels of social problems and high tax rates both correlate with wealth.

Level 34

Dec 24, 2016

Where would Vatican City rank on this list?

Level 67

Feb 1, 2019

Yea haha I tried Vatican too for the fun of it, curious where they d be

Level 93

Feb 28, 2019

Pretty sure most of their money comes through visitor donations/spending. From nationsencyclopedia.com: "There are no taxes, no restrictions on the import or export of funds, and no customs or excise duties payable in the Vatican City. Employees of the Vatican pay no income tax and no customs duty on gasoline or goods that they buy in the Vatican. Non-Italians enjoy allowances on their monthly salaries."

Level 68

Sep 30, 2021

More people should live in the Vatican.

Level 80

Nov 30, 2017

Swaziland & Lesotho are such outliers. Does anyone know why their tax rate is so high?

Level 67

Feb 1, 2019

Well cuba, bosnia, slovenia and Hungary arent really the first candidates you think of either. Those and the ones you mentioned really stand out.

Level 82

Feb 28, 2019

Well, communism was/is very much into free healthcare and education, financed by taxes of course. And it wasn't something the post-communist states felt like abandoning.

Level 82

Apr 15, 2019

I guessed Cuba pretty quickly.

Level 71

Jul 4, 2020

I didn't think about Cuba until I had 1 second left but by then it was too late. There's no way I would've gotten Lesotho. Given that all of the rest of the countries were European, I assumed that the two that I was missing were European until I saw the answers.

Level 89

Mar 1, 2019

I'm assuming it's a per capita tax burden and businesses pay a lot in Luxembourg, because that place funnels a lot of money.

Level 69

Mar 7, 2019

I was kind of surprised to see so many of the Balkans there. I guess they still haven't really recovered from their wars yet, and for some of them, still transitioning into the EU. Then again, the infrastructure and quality of life is noticeably improving in those countries; taxes sure help with that :-)

Level 66

Mar 12, 2019

Every government would love to give itself the largest possible budget to play with by charging the highest possible tax rates. Generally, only countries that are very comfortable for other reasons can get away with it. Put another way, taxes are high in France for the same reason that rents are high in New York--lots of people want to live there, and are willing to pay a premium to do so.

Level 59

Mar 13, 2019

I don't know why but I don't want to trust some of the countries on this list with the high level of their taxes

Level 67

Apr 15, 2019

I've just made a quiz on countries with the lowest tax, if anyone's interested: https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/142762/countries-with-the-lowest-tax

Level 75

Apr 15, 2019

I got all but Hungary and the Yugoslavian ones

Level 24

Apr 15, 2019

Who else look straight away to the comments because they had no idea what the heck any of them were?

Level 57

Apr 16, 2019

Lesotho ???

Level 69

Jul 16, 2019

The answers are mostly European socialist countries. A factor most people don't appreciate is that Europe is largely stripped of resources and this has to affect their thinking. They don't have any significant petroleum reserves so they need to rely on the Middle East and are willing to look the other way when these countries treat their citizens poorly, promote terrorism and stick to customs that are natural for them but offensive to many Westerners. They are getting smarter by adapting renewable energy sources. If you haven't seen Europe, you don't realize they have to conserve or they'd not have anything left. The Americas, by contrast, have much greater reserves of raw materials and land and can afford, in many but not all ways, to have different policies. I've lived in Europe (Germany, UK, Iceland) and visited about 1/3 of the countries but I greatly prefer living in the USA for its much greater diversity, wealth of resources, friendliness of its people and diverse economy.

+10

Level 64

Aug 13, 2019

Norway, the Netherlands, and the UK all produce a decent amount of oil, Norway especially so.

+29

Level 71

Apr 29, 2020

PHG, I think you have a strange idea of what socialism is if you think that the listed European countries are socialist. Some have political parties that would like to implement rather more socialist policies, but I think you will find that most are rather more capitalist than socialist. Or, they like the concept of a Social Market. That is to say to attempt regulation of markets and the alleviation of poverty. There is no way I would be describing Germany or the Netherlands as socialist countries; we could continue on a case by case basis. And wait a cotton picking second, are you suggesting that European countries look the other way when they see human rights abuses around the world, whilst the USA does not? That European countries actually perpetrate such abuses themselves and the USA does not?

Level 82

Sep 25, 2020

Really pretty much all countries these days, at least the prosperous ones, are socialist to an extent. The federal government is often the largest employer and holds the most capital. Most places have a federal income tax that goes toward social services. Including the United States. And this is a good thing.

Level 64

Jan 25, 2021

We get it. You pay taxes in Europe.

Level 76

Mar 31, 2021

Yep. There are layers, though. Not many countries have "one for all" %. Lower income earners pay, roughly speaking, from 0 up to a little over 20% depending on the country and income. Often, housing is a much bigger financial dilemma than taxation. VAT stings the poor. People living in Switzerland suffer the quite un-European health insurance thing...

...and the genuinely rich people have things like the Channel islands, the Dutch sandwich and whatever needs to be done when the taxman finds your latest gimmick.

Level 58

Apr 15, 2021

The word “tax” is subject to debate. In France, almost half of the taxes are called “social contributions”, and are a form of social insurance: you pay contributions every month and in return you will get pension benefits when you retire and unemployment benefits if you lose your job IN PROPORTION of what you contributed. The difference with a private insurance system is that you don’t get to choose your insurer and that enrolling is mandatory.

Level 62

Apr 15, 2021

Spain Holaaaa??!!?!?!?!!?!?!?

Level 68

Apr 15, 2021

i wish we were libertarian.

Level 75

Apr 15, 2021

I wish you would educate yourself

Level 68

Apr 15, 2021

taxation is theft. =)

Level 38

Apr 15, 2021

due to some unnecessary changes, the US may soon appear on this quiz

Level 66

Apr 15, 2021

Due to some necessary and long overdue changes, the US may soon appear on this list.

Level 90

Apr 15, 2021

Not even close. They are the 175th country in alphabetical order. When you actually sort the data it's 58th after you remove countries that don't have information.

Level 55

Apr 15, 2021

Oh. Never realized, still, 58th wouldn't put them here on that scenario.

Level 67

Apr 15, 2021

Due to some changes, the US may appear on this list.

Level 29

Apr 15, 2021

Quebec also has the highest taxes in all of Canada. Something about the French and taxes. The first African country I guessed was Algeria because I knew.. gotta be the French.

Level 67

Apr 15, 2021

What is Cuba spending all of that money on?

Level 75

Apr 15, 2021

Education and healthcare primarily. Cuba has got some of the best healthcare system and world class medical services in the world.

Level 67

Apr 16, 2021

Oh. The more you know.

Level 8

Apr 15, 2021

Since when Cuba is in north america??

Level 37

Apr 15, 2021

Since always. Take a look at a map, why would Panama be considered a North American country but not Cuba?

Level 8

Apr 16, 2021

I always thought Cuba was in Central America. I may be wrong. On the other hand, Panama is in central america, not north.

Level 43

Apr 19, 2021

But Central America is not a continent, North America is.

Level 68

Apr 16, 2021

I don't by any means trust the Heritage Foundation, and neither should you, but even if this list were accurate, it's rather pointless. It doesn't matter how much taxes you pay, it matters how it compares to what you get out of it. Taxes are an investment in a civilised society. You wouldn't judge an investment by its cost without considering its return, would you?

Take healthcare for instance. Many Europeans receive, on average, way better healthcare than average Americans, and even when you factor in the taxes they pay for it, it comes at a fraction of the cost. Again: on average, Americans pay a lot more for healthcare than Europeans do, without receiving better service on average. How is that any better?

Level 68

Apr 16, 2021

I'm very happy to pay the taxes I do in France, and, if anything, I think they should be even higher, to pay for better universities, better social programs, to ensure that nobody is hungry or homeless. In fact, I'm very proud that my taxes contribute to bettering the society for me, and others.

Level 75

Apr 16, 2021

This must be why citizens of Cuba and Algeria love living there so much

Level 48

Apr 20, 2021

Didn't think of Algeria, got otherwise all

Level 65

Jun 23, 2021

I thought that I see "countries have highest Texas",then I laugh out...

Level 56

Mar 4, 2022

Sheesh, France, what are you doing with all that money?

Level 82

Apr 25, 2022

There are, in fact, and inarguably, some political opinions that nobody over a certain threshold of knowledge and intelligence holds. Not everything is moot or a crapshoot. There are objective truths. Declaring something politically contentious doesn't negate that or make acknowledging facts at any point after the declaration rude, ignorant, biased, or arrogant. But people who don't have the facts on their side often try to make everything political so they can act like it does.

Level 68

Apr 25, 2022

Glad the UK doesn't appear on this, government can't be trusted to spend wisely with the money they already have (mind you, you could probably say that with many countries on that list lol), god forbid I ever pay them a penny over 20%.

Level 67

Jan 29, 2024

Guessed everything in North America except for Cuba 😭 Also missed Montenegro and Algeria

Level 53

Feb 4, 2024

force a nous les francais

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