The total burden of taxes and contributions on the average worker without children in our country in 2023 is estimated at 38.5%, when the average in the OECD countries was 34.8%, according to research by OECD.
As reported by the central news bulletin of ANT1 with Nikos Hatzinikolaou, citing the research, taxes and contributions “eat” four out of ten euros of Greek workers. This burden comes mainly from the employee and employer insurance contributions which reach 11.3% and 18.2% respectively causing pressure not only on the incomes of employees, but also on the economy in general. On the contrary, only 8.9% of the income tax burden is calculated, compared to 13.3% which is the OECD average.
At the same time, our country maintained last year the sixth highest “tax wedge” – as the OECD calls the total burden – for a family of one worker with two children at 37.1%, compared to 25.7 % which is the average of OECD countries.
The issue here is that while the burden of insurance contributions does not change, on average in the member states it is much lower, by 9.1 percentage points at the tax level, while in Greece the “preferential” treatment of a worker with two children is “valued” to 1.4 % lower burden in terms of income tax.
2023 was another year in which the tax burden on wages in OECD countries increased. Last year our country had the 18th highest “tax wedge” in OECD countries, one place higher than in 2022. According to OECD data, the tax wedge increased in 2023 in 23 of the 38 OECD countries between 2022 and 2023, it decreased to 13 and remained the same in two. Income tax and employer social security contributions make up 71% of the total burden, compared to the OECD average of 77%.
Tags: euros wages taxes contributions Greece
