Czech Republic is one of the world's most taxed countries

New data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has revealed the countries with the highest tax burden around the world.

According to the OECD, tax revenues as a percentage of GDP (i.e. the tax-to-GDP ratio) have continued to increase; the 2017 figure is the highest recorded OECD average tax-to-GDP ratio since records began in 1965.

The French pay the most annually in tax and social contributions at 46.2% followed by Denmark, Sweden, Italy, and Greece in the OECD’s ranking of tax as a percentage of the GDP.

The tax burden in the Czech Republic is above the OECD average of 34.2%, reaching 34.9% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). These figures land the Czech Republic (#9) among the top ten countries with the heaviest tax burden, behind Germany (#8) and above Portugal (#10).

Breaking down the numbers, Czechs pay 15% income tax; 11% is deducted from gross income for social and health insurance. In addition, employers pays 25% for social and 9% for health insurance (34% total), the highest among the Central and Eastern European countries.

Social security contributions as a share of total tax revenues were highest in Slovakia and the Czech Republic (43.5% and 42.9%, respectively).

Of the 34 countries for which data for 2017 are available, the ratio of tax revenues to GDP compared to 2016 rose in 19 and fell in 15 countries.