The lowest top-marginal income-tax countries, ranked

The highest statutory income-tax band in each country's published tax schedule. Does not include social contributions, VAT, or wealth tax — see each country's full taxation section.

Lowest top-marginal rate: United Arab Emirates at No income tax. Highest in the top 20: United Kingdom at 45%. Top-marginal is the rate on the highest band — not the blended average.
01 AE United Arab Emirates tax year 2025 No income tax 02 HK Hong Kong tax year 2025-26 17% 03 SG Singapore tax year YA2025 24% 04 BR Brazil tax year 2025 28% 05 EG Egypt tax year 2025 28% 06 CA Canada tax year 2025 33% 07 MX Mexico tax year 2025 35% 08 MA Morocco tax year 2025 37% 09 US United States tax year 2025 37% 10 NZ New Zealand tax year 2025-26 39% 11 IE Ireland tax year 2025 40% 12 IT Italy tax year 2025 43% 13 AU Australia tax year 2025-26 45% 14 CN China (Mainland) tax year 2025 45% 15 FR France tax year 2024 45% 16 DE Germany tax year 2025 45% 17 JP Japan tax year 2025 45% 18 ZA South Africa tax year 2024-25 45% 19 KR South Korea tax year 2025 45% 20 GB United Kingdom tax year 2025-26 45%

The rate isn't what you pay. This is the statutory top-marginal rate only — i.e., the rate levied on the last euro/dollar of income in the top band. Effective blended rates are meaningfully lower, and social-security contributions + VAT + wealth taxes are separate layers. See each country's Taxation section for the full picture.

Methodology on the methodology page. Each row links to the country brief with full source attribution.

𝕏 Twitter Reddit LinkedIn HN

Get the monthly brief.

One email a month — the most important visa, tax, and policy changes across tracked countries. Unsubscribe anytime.

Other topic lists

ListThe cheapest cities for remote workers in 2026ListThe most expensive cities to live in, rankedListThe fastest-processing skilled-worker visas of 2026ListHighest GDP per capita: richest countries in 2026ListThe fastest-growing economies of 2026