12 Countries With The Highest & Lowest Tax Rates

Australia, with a 31.5% marginal tax rate on average income workers, manage to clock in at 17th on the IMF’s GDP per capita ranking with $36,918. The island nation is bouncing back surprisingly strong from the worldwide economic meltdown, with the BBC reporting on January 14, 2010 that had fallen to 5.5% at a time when similarly situated nations are struggling with double-digit unemployment. According to Deputy Prime Minister Juliar Gillard, the BBC’s findings “provide further evidence of how Australia has outperformed virtually every other advanced economy during the global recession.” With a tax rate similar to that of the United States, Australia has long provided incentives for the hard work, entrepreneurship and risk-taking that are fundamental to sustained economic growth and high standards of living.