Germany vs United Kingdom
German social contributions sit 10 to 15 points above UK National Insurance across most of the range. Push past 100,000 euros and that gap closes quickly.
See the two side by sideThe same salary, in two countries
One gross figure, two tax systems, and the gap that opens between them. Every number comes from the same engine behind the country calculators.
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Enter your own salary and compare any two of our 22 countries - converted at market rates and run through both tax systems.
France vs Germany
France has the reputation, Germany has the deductions. On the same gross salary a French employee usually keeps more, and it holds all the way to about 120,000 euros.
See the two side by sideNew Zealand vs Australia
Australia pays better and taxes less at every level. That combination, rather than the weather, is what keeps the trans-Tasman drift running one way.
See the two side by sideNetherlands vs Belgium
Belgium carries one of the heaviest tax wedges in the OECD. The Netherlands wins at every income level, and the 30% ruling turns a win into a rout.
See the two side by sideUnited Kingdom vs Ireland
Two systems that end up close by very different routes. USC is the layer that catches British eyes; the wider Irish standard band is what offsets it.
See the two side by sideUnited States vs United Kingdom
Federal tax on its own flatters the US badly. Add state tax and health insurance premiums and the two get a great deal closer than the headline rates suggest.
See the two side by sideUnited States vs Canada
Canada takes more through the middle and the US pulls ahead at the top. Exactly where they cross depends on the province and the state involved.
See the two side by sideUnited Kingdom vs Canada
Similar burdens, different shapes. Canada front-loads CPP and EI, while the UK leans harder on income tax once you clear the higher-rate threshold.
See the two side by sideUnited Kingdom vs Australia
Australia's tax-free threshold and 16% starting band beat anything the UK offers at the bottom. Higher up, superannuation changes what you are even comparing.
See the two side by sideGermany vs Austria
Almost identical on paper. The 13th and 14th salaries, taxed at 6% in Austria, are what quietly separate the two across a full year.
See the two side by sideDenmark vs Sweden
They get lumped together as high-tax Nordics. AM-bidrag and the Danish top tax make the burdens diverge rather more than most people expect.
See the two side by sideNorway vs Sweden
Norway's flat 22% plus bracket tax against Sweden's municipal-first model. Which one wins depends entirely on where you sit on the scale.
See the two side by sideItaly vs Germany
Italy looks cheaper until INPS and the regional addizionali are counted in. Germany's higher gross salaries then do much of the work in the final figure.
See the two side by sideIreland vs United States
A multinational salary in Dublin against the same job in the States, once USC, PRSI and US state tax have all been accounted for.
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