The Taxing Wages 2015 survey shows the tax burden has increased in 23 OECD countries and fallen in 10 during between 2010 and 2014.

The OECD report measures the ‘tax wedge’, or the difference between labour costs to the employer and the corresponding net take-home pay of the employee, calculated as % of total labour costs.

In 2014, the tax burden on the average worker across the OECD increased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 36%, even though no OECD country increased its statutory income tax rates on the average worker. The tax burden increased in 23 of the 34 OECD countries, fell in nine and remained unchanged in two.

The highest average tax burdens for childless single workers earning the average wage in their country were observed in Belgium (55.6%), Austria (49.4%), Germany (49.3%) and Hungary (49.0%). The lowest were in Chile (7%), New Zealand (17.2%), Mexico (19.5%) and Israel (20.5%). 

In the UK, the average single worker faced a net tax burden of 23.7% in 2014 compared with the OECD average of 25.5%.

Taking into account child-related benefits and tax provisions, the employee net tax burden for an average married worker with two children in the UK reduced to 18.7% in 2014, compared with 14.8% for the OECD average.

This meant a worker had a take-home pay, after tax and family benefits, of 81.3% of their gross wage compared to 85.2% for the OECD average.

This year’s OECD report contains a special chapter on labour income in five major non-OECD economies: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa.  In 2013, tax wedges in Brazil and China for the average single worker were similar to those observed in many OECD countries. However, workers  in India, Indonesia, and South Africa faced tax wedges that were much lower than in the vast majority of OECD economies.

The OECD report is here: http://www.oecd.org/tax/taxing-wages-20725124.htm