The World Economic Forum has published The Global Competitiveness Report this weekend. They analyzed different data like levels of corruption, inflation, and policy stability to provide an “insight into the drivers of their productivity and prosperity.”
25. Spain: 50% — Spain has reduced its overall rates to 50% from 58%, meaning it no longer has one of the five highest tax rates for businesses in Europe.
24. Japan: 51.3% — Japan's high tax rates have weighed on the country's ranking in the WEF's competitiveness index. Japan came in at eighth this year, losing three places.
T-22. Mexico: 51.7% — Government corruption and bureaucracy are the main hurdles to doing business in Mexico, despite the high tax rates, according to the WEF.
T-22. Austria: 51.7% — Austria has some interesting quirks with its tax system. For example, couples are taxed separately even when they are married.
21. Ukraine: 52.2% — Businesses in Ukraine have to contend not only with serious geopolitical concerns, but also with some of the highest taxes in Europe.
20. Sri Lanka: 55.2% — While Sri Lanka's tax rates are high, the WEF cites policy instability and poor access to financing as bigger hindrances to doing business in the country.
19. Costa Rica: 58% — The small nation is one of a few countries in Central America to have a tax rate well in excess of 50%. This in part is due to to high levels of tax activism in recent years, which has led policymakers to increase total taxes.
18. Belgium: 58.4% — The home of the European Union has the fourth-highest rate of tax in the eurozone and the highest outside the "big five" Euro countries.
17. Tunisia: 59.9% — Tunisia's rate is high but has decreased from over 62% recorded last year by the WEF.
16. India: 60.6% — The efficiency of India's domestic market is hindered by fiscal regulations that allow federal states to levy different levels of value-added taxes.
15. France: 62.7% — The current government has overhauled the tax system and cut corporate levies, but France still has higher levels of tax than its European peers.
T-13. Benin: 63.3% — The World Bank says the country's corporate income tax runs to only 15.9%, but a bundle of other taxes raise the total rate imposed on businesses significantly.
T-13. Gambia: 63.3% — Without major natural resources, Gambia is among the poorest nations in the world. Taxes on turnover rather than profit raise rates for businesses significantly.
12. Chad: 63.5% — Like Gambia, Chad relies on agriculture and is extremely poor. It taxes 1.5% of turnover or 40% or profits, depending on which is higher.
11. Nicaragua: 63.9% — The country suffers from high levels of government bureaucracy as well as high tax rates, according to the WEF.
10. Italy: 64.8% — Italy's high tax rate is the single most problematic factor for doing business in the country, according to the WEF, beating its government bureaucracy.
9. Venezuela: 65% — The economy of Venezuela is wracked by inflation, crime, and corruption, according to the WEF. It pursued a higher-tax model, with dramatic increases in taxes for foreign oil companies under former President Hugo Chavez.
8. China: 67.8% — China faces a worsening fiscal situation — the budget deficit more than doubled from 2014 to 2015, to reach 2.7% of gross domestic product.
7. Brazil: 69.2% — Brazil is losing competitiveness fast. In the context of negative terms of trade shocks and political turmoil, the country fell six positions to 81st.
6. Colombia: 69.7% — The country has reduced its rate from over 73% last year, but its rate is still one of the highest in the world.
5. Mauritania: 71.3% — In 2013, this agriculture-dependent country brought in a withholding tax of 15% to stop people from moving payments to nonresidents.
4. Algeria: 72.7% — Algeria has the highest total tax rate in Africa.
3. Tajikistan: 81.8% — The country in Central Asia has increased its rate from 80.9% last year, according to the WEF.
2. Bolivia: 83.7% — Bolivia's transaction tax skims 60% of company profits, even before other taxes are taken into account.
1. Argentina: 137.4% — The country's turnover tax alone eats up nearly 90% of corporate earnings, before taxes on salaries and financial transactions are taken into account.
• Don't insult other visitors. Offensive comments will be deleted without warning.
• Comments are accepted in English only.
• No swearing words in comments, otherwise such comments will be censored.
• Your nickname and avatar are randomly selected. If you don't post comments for 7 days, they both are reset.
• To choose another avatar, click the ‘Random avatar’ link.
