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PrintJanuary 12, 2010
Graph of the Day for January 12, 2010
"The U.S. tax rate is at the low end of the European scale. The big difference is we have no national VAT, or value-added tax. We rely on income and property tax for revenue, and our corporate tax is higher than that of most European nations. And yet our system is very progressive. Rich Americans pay a larger share of their income in taxes than the richest Europeans do. We have a low absolute level of taxation, but it's progressive by European standards." Peter Baldwin, a professor of history at UCLA and author of The Narcissism of Minor Differences, as interviewed in Time.
Taxes on Income and Profits as a Percentage of GDP
Source: OECD Factbook.
Hoven's Index for January 12, 2010
Total taxes as a percentage of GDP:
US: 28.3%
Switzerland: 29.7% (lowest in Europe)
OECD average: 35.9%
Denmark: 48.9% (highest in OECD)
Source: OECD Factbook.
Graph of the Day Archive.
