Dr. Periklis Gogas is an Associate Professor of Economics, International Economics Department, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
Ms. Maria Matthaiou is a PhD Candidate in Economics, Democritus University of Thrace, Greece
For a typical family, the net salary is usually the main source of its income. Therefore, it determines their ability to consume or save. In the following table we present the net salary in 27 OECD countries. Net salary is the take-home pay that is left after we deduct the income tax and employee’s social security benefits for retirement and health insurance from the gross salary payed by the employer.
More specifically:
Net salary = Average gross salary for a family with 2 children – Income tax – Insurance contributions + state benefits
Thus, we then calculate the government burden in employee’s income and rank the 27 countries according to this burden.
Greece is in the first place with 40%. The net payroll burden for Denmark is in second place with 37%. Other developed countries (mainly Scandinavian) have also a significant percentage. Nonetheless, these direct taxes are used in very different ways in Greece and the other developed countries. In Greece, these taxes mainly finance the government deficit and the short-term cash flow needs. On the contrary, in the other developed countries, these taxes are used for the implementation of social policy and welfare and thus, they finance the learning of foreign languages, public schools, daycare, etc. At the same time, the benefits to the unemployed, retirees, pregnant and women with small children and other vulnerable groups, are generous.
Country
Payroll Burden
Gross Salary
Income Tax
Social Security
Benefits
Net Salary
Greece
40%
24,201.50
3,079.02
3,872.24
17,250.24
Danmark
37%
39,748.38
12,558.23
1,101.30
2,840.40
28,929.25
Turkey
35%
28,370.00
3,042.38
4,255.50
21,072.12
Netherlands
33%
48,855.70
7,670.88
6,398.11
1,862.00
36,648.71
Finland
32%
42,909.72
9,709.61
3,445.36
2,631.84
32,386.59
Norway
31%
54,238.60
10,563.25
4,447.57
2,328.00
41,555.79
Germany
30%
45,952.05
412
9,270.83
35,269.23
Belgium
30%
46,464.41
7,921.64
6,505.26
3,773.04
35,810.55
Austria
26%
42,573.25
6,183.70
7,687.51
4,964.00
33,666.04
U.K.
23%
35,632.64
5,126.53
3,321.20
1,775.46
28,960.38
USA
23%
56,067.00
2,596.67
3,830.75
45,582.00
Poland
22%
42,360.01
170.21
7,551.04
34,638.77
Sweden
22%
40,797.45
7,087.30
2,860.00
2,700.00
33,550.15
Hungary
19%
30,092.84
2,414.85
5,567.18
3,192.00
25,302.81
Spain
18%
26,161.81
2,370.75
1,661.27
22,129.78
Japan
18%
48,819.94
3,002.73
6,892.89
2,400.00
41,324.32
Iceland
17%
68,561.00
13,187.65
279.59
3,627.39
58,721.15
Italy
17%
41,462.67
4,623.87
2,890.91
1,592.04
35,539.93
Portugal
15%
17,435.71
1,078.10
1,917.93
700.56
15,140.25
Slovenia
12%
17,851.28
492.86
3,945.13
2,469.24
15,882.53
Estonia
11%
12,435.95
1,470.68
248.72
460.32
11,176.87
France
10%
38,427.35
2,941.79
5,258.54
1,549.74
34,776.75
Slovakia
6%
10,342.10
257.42
1,385.84
564.48
9,778.16
Luxemburg
5%
54,560.39
3,328.67
6,712.09
7,521.72
52,041.36
Switzerland
4%
90,521.98
4,133.16
5,657.62
6,000.00
86,731.20
Czech Rep.
2%
31,208.38
1,375.92
3,432.92
1,464.00
30,615.38
Ireland
0%
34,465.85
2,864.58
1,378.63
4,160.00
34,382.63