For dividends, France’s high built-in tax fee was the best amongst European international locations (57.85 %), adopted by Eire (57.13 %), Denmark (54.74 %) and the United Kingdom (54.5 %). Latvia (20 %), Estonia (22 %), and Hungary (22.65 %) levy the bottom charges. Estonia and Latvia’s tax on distributed income signifies that the company earnings tax is the one layer of taxation on company earnings distributed as dividends.

For capital beneficial properties, France (57.85 %), Denmark (54.76 %), the Netherlands (52.51 %) and Norway (51.52 %) have the best built-in charges amongst European international locations, whereas Cyprus (12.5 %), Romania (16.84 %), Bulgaria (19 %), Switzerland (19.61 %), and Greece and Slovenia (22 %) levy the bottom charges. A number of European international locations—particularly Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Turkey—don’t levy capital beneficial properties taxes for long-held shares with out substantial possession, making the company tax the one layer of tax on company earnings realized as long-term capital beneficial properties.

On common, European international locations levy an built-in tax fee of 39.23 % on dividends and 36.03 % on capital beneficial properties. Compared, the United States levies a mean built-in high tax fee of 47 % on dividends and capital beneficial properties.

Double taxationDouble taxation is when taxes are paid twice on the identical greenback of earnings, no matter whether or not that’s company or particular person earnings. of company earnings can result in financial distortions, akin to diminished financial savings and funding, a bias towards sure enterprise kinds, and debt financing over fairness financing. A number of European international locations have built-in company and particular person tax codes to get rid of or scale back the unfavourable results of double taxation on company earnings.

2025 Notable Modifications

• Over the previous 12 months, some international locations have raised their statutory company charges, together with Estonia (from 20 to 22 %), France (from 25.8 to 36.13 %), Lithuania (from 15 to 16 %), and the Slovak Republic (from 21 to 24 %). Others have lowered their company tax charges, together with Iceland (from 21 to twenty %), Luxembourg (from 24.94 to 23.87 %), and Portugal (from 31.5 to 30.5 %).
• 5 international locations have raised their high private tax charges on long-term capital beneficial properties, such because the Czech Republic (from 0 to 23 %), Estonia (from 20 to 22 %), Latvia (from 20 to twenty-eight.5 %) Spain (from 28 to 30 %), and the UK (from 20 to 24 %). In distinction, Portugal has diminished its high private tax fee on long-term capital beneficial properties from 28 to 19.6 %.
• Spain elevated its high private dividend tax fee from 28 to 30 %, whereas the Slovak Republic diminished its high private dividend tax fee from 10 to 7 %.