Top 10 Countries With The Highest Tax Rates In The World

Taxation is one of the most crucial sources of revenue for governments around the world. It helps fund public services, social welfare programs, infrastructure projects, and other essential services. While taxes are essential, they can also be a significant burden for taxpayers, especially those in countries with high tax rates.

It is worth noting that while these countries have the highest marginal tax rates, other countries may have different tax systems and may have a higher overall tax burden, including social security contributions and other taxes.

Having a society well organized and structured to accommodate her citizens, providing them the basic necessaries of life and ensuring that their lives and properties are well protected comes with a cost. Tax is a compulsory contribution made by the citizens to the state revenue, usually levied by the government on workers’ income as well as business profits, or even added to the cost of some goods, services, and transactions compiled by a commission for the proper running of the government and provision of public infrastructures.

The rate of tax levied on the citizens considerably differs among Countries and to a great extent, it is subject to the level of interest in building a better community. Let’s take a look at some of the countries with the highest tax rates in the world based on corporate tax ratios.

In this article, we'll take a look at the top 10 countries with the highest tax rates in the world as of 2023.

Top 10 Countries With The Highest Tax Rates In The World

• Brazil
• Suriname
• Benin
• Malta
• Colombia
• Congo
• Gabon
• Equatorial Guinea
• Venezuela
• Jamaica

1. Brazil

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Corporate tax rate 40% The tax policy in Brazil can be likened to one that is quite strict and executory. The developmental ratio when compared to the tax rate may not be completely justified as being contemporaries or proportionate but it can not be disregarded that the government seems to be making quite a number of efforts to up the infrastructural development in order to equate it with the tax ratio.

It is quite interesting how the tax rate in Brazil kept rising following the constitutional support for over 40 percent tax on corporations and about 15 to 27 percent on income and sales tax in the country. From all indications, Brazil seems to be on the top of the chart in recent times as one of the countries with the highest tax rate.

2. Suriname

Corporate tax rate 36%. Suriname is a country situated on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America with a population of approximately 612,985. It is listed as the smallest sovereign state in South America. The country being a relatively small nation with low population and high income tax as well as Corporate tax rate has not reflected a more positive infrastructural development to equate the high level of taxation in the country.

Known for small scale export, it has continued to rely more on levies and high income tax to run the system with poor infrastructural development. It is one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

3. Benin

Corporate tax rate 35% Benin is a French-speaking West African country with an economy reliant on small scale export of agricultural produce and minimal manufacturing capacity. The country continues to rank high on the tax rate index with an elevated tax rate on small and medium scale Industries, food and household items as well as income tax for workers.

It is quite worrisome due to the deficit in infrastructural development in the country. It is one of the countries with a high tax rate.

4. Malta

Corporate tax rate 35%. Malta is a country with a population of about 516,000 within a relatively small area. It is a small sovereign Nation within the European Union and one of the countries with high levels of taxation on the small and medium income earners up to the corporate income tax for corporations.

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Its tax rate is quite high when compared to the level of developmental projects executed. The rationale behind the disproportionate taxation seems to be an imbalance in governance and financial appropriation by the ruling class; however, it marks the State as one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

5. Colombia

Corporate tax rate 35% Officially, the Republic of Colombia is a country in South America with a population of about 50 million people. It is a relatively poor country dependent on subsistence agriculture and small scale export to run the economy. It is known for its tax rate that is seemingly high and disproportionate to the level of tax imposed on the citizens.

Taxes way above 14 people on sales and personal income tax as well as over 20 percent for businesses and over 35 percent for corporate organizations seem to be the norm. In all, it is interestingly, the level of development on basic social infrastructures like schools, roads and hospitals doesn’t have a corresponding equation with the level of taxation going on. Colombia remains one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

6. Congo

Corporate tax rate 35%. Talking about the taxation policy and tax rate in DRC, The Democratic Republic of the Congo, a country in central Africa with a population of about 108 million people, it is not far from most of the developing countries with low employment rates, infrastructural deficit and social insecurity.

It is not relenting on the policy imposing tax on small and medium enterprises as well as personal income taxes on individual workers. A higher tax rate is imposed on corporate entities bringing it up to about 35 percent which is quite high making Congo one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

7. Gabon

Corporate tax rate 35% The tax rate in Gabon is one that shows serious decline in administrative competence and readiness to improve the living condition of her citizens. With a tax rate of over 12 percent on sales and personal income tax, it lacks infrastructural development like improved healthcare services and learning Institutions to improve the social strata of the State thereby fostering a strategic economy.

Gabon is located within the west coast of central Africa with a population estimated at about 2.3 million people. It is lagging in so many areas that should account for its high taxation policy. It is one of the countries in the world with a high tax rate.

8. Equatorial Guinea

Corporate tax rate 35% Equatorial Guinea has become one of sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producers in recent times. Although one of the countries with high taxation, it seems to have subsequently become the richest African country per capita. Very notably is the country’s GDP that is well adjusted for purchasing power parity (PPP) per capita ranking it 43rd in the world. Very commendable.

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With the success story so loud, it remains a fact that more of her wealth is not evenly spread and she has continued to push for more ways to keep feeding the power holders. Taxation in Guinea is quite high, though infrastructures seem to be planted but at a very low level, the tax rate remains very high. The country records a stride in it’s human capital development but has maintained the position as one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

9. Venezuela

Corporate tax rate 34%. One of the Oil producing States riddled with mismanagement of funds as well as bad governance. It has an estimated population of about 29 million in 2022. Plunged into economic crises with shortages of basic goods, unemployment, poverty, disease, high child mortality, malnutrition, severe crime and corruption to mention a few.

It has been recorded to have a weak economy and high infrastructural deficit. That notwithstanding, the government has continued to make an effort to stay afloat by imposing high level log tax on her citizens. Ranging from the personal income tax up to the corporate tax, it is quite disproportionate to the level of development recorded in the country to prove the proper management of the taxpayers money. Venezuela is one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

10. Jamaica

Corporate tax rate 33.3%. After the US and Canada, Jamaica ranks as the third-most populous Anglophone country in the Americas and fourth in the Caribbean. It borders Cuba and others with an economy reliant on very low exports and GDP. It has about 2.8 million people in population and relies mostly on tourism to drive its economy.

It is one of the countries with a very high personal income tax as well as sales tax on small and medium enterprises. The brunt is borne even more by the corporate entities who are made to comply with an over 33.3 percent tax tax. Jamaica is considered as one of the countries with the highest tax rate in the world.

Conclusively, when it is the civil duty of the citizens of every country to comply with the social contract between the government and the people to provide social infrastructures through the payment of tax and other legal duties and levies, it is also the ultimate responsibility of the government to ensure the appropriate disbursement of such funds in the development of basic social infrastructures that would provide a conducive environment for citizens.