The 25 countries with the highest tax rates in the world
25. Spain: 50% — Spain has reduced its overall rates from 58% to 50%, dropping out of the top 5 highest tax rates for businesses in Europe.
24. Japan: 51.3% — Japan's high tax rates have weighed on the country's ranking in the WEF's competitiveness index. Japan came in at 8th this year, losing three places.
T=22. Mexico: 51.7% — Government corruption and bureaucracy are the main hurdles to doing business in Mexico, despite the high tax rates, according to the WEF.
T=22. Austria: 51.7% — Austria has some interesting quirks with its tax system. For example, couples are taxed separately even when they are married.
21. Ukraine: 52.2% — Businesses in Ukraine have to contend not only with serious geopolitical concerns, but also with some of the highest taxes in Europe.
20. Sri Lanka: 55.2% — While Sri Lanka's tax rates are high, the WEF cites policy instability and poor access to financing as bigger hindrances to doing business in the country.
19. Costa Rica: 58% — The small nation is one of a few countries in Central America to have a tax rate well in excess of 50%. This is part down to high levels of tax activism in recent years, which has led policymakers to increase total taxes.
18. Belgium: 58.4% — The home of the European Union has the fourth-highest rate of tax in the eurozone and the highest outside the "big five" Euro countries.
17. Tunisia: 59.9% — Tunisia's rate is high, but has decreased from over 62% recorded last year by the WEF.
16. India: 60.6% — The efficiency of India's domestic market is hindered by fiscal regulations that allow federal states to levy different levels of value-added taxes.
15. France: 62.7% — The current government has overhauled the tax system and cut corporate levies, but France still has higher levels of tax than its European peers.
T=13. Benin: 63.3% — The World Bank says the country's corporate income tax runs to only 15.9%, but a bundle of other taxes raise the total rate imposed on businesses significantly.
T=13. Gambia: 63.3% — Without major natural resources, Gambia is among the poorest nations in the world. Taxes on turnover rather than profit raise rates for businesses significantly.
12. Chad: 63.5% — Like Gambia, Chad relies on agriculture and is extremely poor. It taxes 1.5% of turnover or 40% or profits, depending on which is higher.
11. Nicaragua: 63.9% — The country suffers from high levels of government bureaucracy, as well as high tax rates, according to the WEF.
10. Italy: 64.8% — Italy's high tax rate is the single most problematic factor for doing business in the country, according to the WEF, beating its government bureaucracy.
9. Venezuela: 65% — The economy of Venezuela is wracked by inflation, crime and corruption, according to the WEF. It pursued a higher-tax model, with dramatic increases in taxes for foreign oil companies under former President Hugo Chavez.
8. China: 67.8% — China faces a worsening fiscal situation—the budget deficit more than doubled between 2014 and 2015, to reach 2.7% of GDP.
7. Brazil: 69.2% — Brazil is losing competitiveness fast. In the context of negative terms of trade shocks and political turmoil, the country fell six positions to 81st.
6. Colombia: 69.7% — The country has reduced its rate from over 73% last year, but it is still one of the highest in the world.
5. Mauritania: 71.3% — In 2013, this agriculture-dependent country brought in a withholding tax of 15% to stop people from moving payments to non-residents.
4. Algeria: 72.7% — Algeria has the highest total tax rate in Africa.
3. Tajikistan: 81.8% — The country in Central Asia has increased its rate from 80.9% last year, according to the WEF.
2. Bolivia: 83.7% — Bolivia's transaction tax skims 60% of company profits, even before other taxes are taken into account.
1. Argentina: 137.4% — The country's turnover tax alone eats up nearly 90% of corporate earnings, before taxes on salaries and financial transactions are taken into account.
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