Germany vs United Kingdom
Germany's social contributions run 10-15 points higher than UK National Insurance through most of the income range — but the gap narrows sharply above €100,000.
Compare take-home pay →Compare take-home pay between countries
Same job, same gross salary, two different countries — see exactly what changes. All figures use this site's own tax engine for each country.
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Enter your own salary and compare any two of our 22 countries — converted at market rates and run through both tax systems.
France vs Germany
France's high-tax reputation is misleading — French employees usually take home more than German ones at the same gross salary, right up to about €120,000.
Compare take-home pay →New Zealand vs Australia
Australia pays more AND taxes less at every income level — the real driver behind the well-documented trans-Tasman "brain drain."
Compare take-home pay →Singapore vs United Kingdom
Roughly even at £40k-£60k, then Singapore pulls dramatically ahead — and CPF, unlike UK tax, is the employee's own money.
Compare take-home pay →Switzerland vs Germany
Switzerland wins by a huge margin — the real driver behind the large cross-border workforce commuting from Germany into Basel and Zurich.
Compare take-home pay →Netherlands vs Belgium
Belgium's tax wedge is among the highest in the OECD — the Netherlands wins comfortably at every level, especially with the 30% ruling.
Compare take-home pay →United Kingdom vs Ireland
Ireland actually wins at lower salaries thanks to tax credits — but USC means the UK pulls ahead above roughly €70,000.
Compare take-home pay →United States vs United Kingdom
US federal-only take-home looks dramatically better than the UK's — but state income tax changes everything, and the gap can vanish.
Compare take-home pay →United States vs Germany
US federal-only take-home dramatically outpaces Germany's heavily contribution-loaded system — but state tax is the wildcard.
Compare take-home pay →United States vs Canada
Both figures are federal/state-only — the real comparison depends entirely on which US state and Canadian province you pick.
Compare take-home pay →United Kingdom vs Canada
Canada's federal-only figures look strong, but provincial tax — especially Quebec vs Alberta — swings the real answer significantly.
Compare take-home pay →United Kingdom vs Australia
Australia wins clearly at every level — one of the real financial drivers behind UK-to-Australia skilled migration.
Compare take-home pay →Germany vs Austria
Nearly identical on paper — until Austria's 13th/14th salary tax treatment quietly puts it ahead in real annual terms.
Compare take-home pay →Denmark vs Sweden
Denmark has the "world's highest tax" reputation — but Sweden actually nets more at every income level shown here.
Compare take-home pay →Norway vs Sweden
Norway's oil-fund-backed system nets noticeably more than Sweden at every income level — see exactly why.
Compare take-home pay →Spain vs United Kingdom
The UK wins by a wide margin — one of the real drivers behind Spanish healthcare workers emigrating north.
Compare take-home pay →Italy vs Germany
Italy nets more take-home than Germany at every level — despite Germany's reputation as the more "efficient" economy.
Compare take-home pay →Luxembourg vs Belgium
Luxembourg wins by nearly 50% — the real driver behind Belgium's huge cross-border commuter workforce.
Compare take-home pay →Singapore vs Australia
Two compulsory-savings systems (CPF vs superannuation) compared head-to-head, with a genuine crossover at high income.
Compare take-home pay →Ireland vs United States
US federal-only take-home looks higher, but Irish USC and US state income tax both complicate the real picture.
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