In Germany, the tax burden is higher than in almost any other industrialized country.
Only in Belgium do citizens have to pay even more taxes and duties.
Berlin/Paris – The Germans have to pay more taxes and duties than in almost any other industrialized country.
Only in Belgium is the tax burden even higher, the
Süddeutsche Zeitung
reported , citing a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
According to this, a married couple with children has to pay an average of 40.8 percent of their earned income.
The OECD had compared 38 member countries.
In Belgium, the burden is 45.4 percent, while the OECD average is 29.4 percent.
The situation is similar for single people: In Germany, 47.8 percent of taxes and social security contributions are incurred on earned income.
In this comparison, too, only Belgium is higher with 53.0 percent.
The OECD average for this type of household is given as 34.6 percent.
High taxes and duties in Germany
"Lower and middle incomes in Germany are subject to relatively high taxes and levies in international comparison," said the head of the OECD Berlin Center, Nicola Brandt, the news agency
Reuters
.
"The main reason for this is that the social security systems are essentially financed by social security contributions." The relatively high taxes are offset by direct benefits such as pension entitlements, health insurance and unemployment insurance.
This is not the case in all OECD countries.
The OECD warned that high taxes and levies on low wages create perverse incentives.
"It may not be worth working more and taking on better-paying jobs," said Brandt.
For this reason, the OECD has often recommended in the past that lower incomes should be relieved.
"Since environmental and property taxes are not very high in international comparison and there are some very generous exemptions from taxation on inheritance and capital income, revenue-neutral reforms of the tax and transfer structure are conceivable that relieve lower labor income."
