The average worker in the 35 OECD countries pays just over one quarter of his gross income on tax and social security contributions, revealed a report published by the OECD on 26 April.

According to Taxing Wages 2018:

“In 2017, the highest average tax rates for single workers with no children were in Belgium (40.5%), Germany (39.9%), and Denmark (38.8%).”

It further reports that:

“In the case of one earner families with two children, the highest rate was in Turkey (25.9%), with Denmark the only other country with a rate above 25% (25.5%).”

This disparity between single and married workers also exists in Luxembourg where, in 2017, single workers paid a net average tax rate of 29.1%, compared with the OECD average of 25.5%.

This resulted in take-home pay for the average single worker of 70.9% of gross income, compared with 74.5% for other OECD countries over the same period.

The net average tax rate for a married employee with two children (taking child benefits and tax provisions into consideration) was revealed to have been, “reduced by 05.0% in 2017, which represents the 29th lowest in the OECD compares with the 14% OECD average.”

This means that the average married worker with two children in Luxembourg had a take-home pay (after tax provisions and family benefits) of 95% of their gross wage compared to 86% for the OECD average.