Who pays the most income tax in the world?

2. Sweden
Highest income tax rate: 56.6%
Average 2010 income: $48,800

Sweden is one of eight European nations to make the list of countries with the highest income tax rates in the world. It also tops neighboring Scandinavian countries, which all have the tax brackets of over 48 percent.

Sweden’s marginal top tax rate kicks in at $81,000. Employees pay a social security tax of 7 percent, capped at a maximum contribution of $4,300. Employers ... more 

2. Sweden
Highest income tax rate: 56.6%
Average 2010 income: $48,800

Sweden is one of eight European nations to make the list of countries with the highest income tax rates in the world. It also tops neighboring Scandinavian countries, which all have the tax brackets of over 48 percent.

Sweden’s marginal top tax rate kicks in at $81,000. Employees pay a social security tax of 7 percent, capped at a maximum contribution of $4,300. Employers are obligated to contribute at a rate of 31.4 percent, which is reduced to 22.2 percent for foreign businesses without a permanent base in Sweden. Other notable taxes include a 30 percent tax on investment income and a municipal property tax of $960, plus a maximum fee of 0.75 percent on the property’s value.

All those taxes fund a generous social security system. Sweden spends more of its GDP on social services than any other country in the world, according to the OECD. Swedes receive free education and subsidized healthcare and public transport, along with a basic pension guaranteed by the government. But the country has also significantly reduced the tax and social security burden on incomes between 2000 and 2011. For most families, the tax wedge, which is the income tax as a percentage of total labor costs, declined by more than 7 percent over those 11 years, according to the OECD.

Pictured: Stockholm less