Compare Taxes and Take-Home Pay Between Countries

Take-home pay on the same salary in seven places

On a $75,000 salary, the single employee in our comparison keeps the most in Texas (US) ($61,593) and the least in Ireland ($54,380), a gap of $7,213 a year. At $150,000 the ranking shifts, because each country’s higher rates start at different incomes. Figures include income tax and the main employee social contributions, converted to US dollars at the exchange rates listed on each country’s page.

What is included in each country

• United Kingdom: national income tax, plus Class 1 National Insurance (main rate), Class 1 National Insurance (above UEL). England, Wales and Northern Ireland income tax rates. Scotland sets its own income tax bands and is not modelled.
• Canada: national income tax after standard personal tax credits, plus CPP (base + first additional), CPP2 (second additional), Employment Insurance. Assumes an Ontario resident: federal and Ontario brackets are combined. Ontario surtax (20% of Ontario tax over $5,818 plus 36% over $7,446), the Ontario Health Premium (up to $900) and the Ontario low-income tax reduction are not modelled, so Ontario tax is understated for higher earners.
• Australia: national income tax, plus Medicare levy.
• New Zealand: national income tax, plus ACC earners' levy.
• Ireland: national income tax after standard personal tax credits, plus PRSI Class A, USC 0.5%, USC 2%, USC 3%, USC 8%.
• United States: federal income tax with the standard deduction, Social Security and Medicare, plus state income tax, state payroll programs and typical local wage tax for the state chosen.

Why a lower tax bill isn’t the whole story

A comparison of take-home pay answers one narrow question: how much of the same gross salary reaches your bank account. It does not say where you would be better off, because the countries fund very different things through tax.

• Health care: in most of these countries public health care is funded from taxes (Australia even collects a separate Medicare levy, included in the table). In the US, employer health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket costs are separate from tax and can be thousands of dollars a year.
• Retirement: Social Security, Canada Pension Plan contributions and Irish PRSI build entitlements to future benefits, so part of what looks like tax is closer to compulsory saving. In the UK, auto-enrolment requires employers to pay at least 3% of qualifying earnings into a workplace pension on top of salary, which is not shown here.
• Salaries are not the same job: a role paying $75,000 in one country may pay noticeably more or less in another, and costs of housing, childcare and transport differ widely.
• Exchange rates move. A 10% change in the dollar changes every converted figure by about 10%, without any change in tax.

Different tax years

Countries don’t share a tax year. The US, Canada and Ireland use the calendar year, the UK runs from 6 April to 5 April, Australia from 1 July to 30 June, and New Zealand from 1 April to 31 March. Each country is shown under the tax year that covers most of 2026: United Kingdom 2026/27, Canada 2026, Australia 2026-27, New Zealand 2026/27, Ireland 2026.

Moving abroad as an American

US citizens and green-card holders are taxed by the United States on worldwide income wherever they live, so an American moving to London or Sydney still files a US return each year. Foreign tax credits and the foreign earned income exclusion usually prevent double taxation, but the filing obligation remains. Those rules are outside what these comparisons model; the comparison assumes a resident taxpayer of each country with no foreign income.

Example: how one row of the table is calculated

Take the United Kingdom row. $75,000 is converted at 1.3201 dollars per pound to £56,814. The first £12,570 is tax-free; Income Tax is charged at 20% on the next £37,700 and 40% above that, giving £10,158. National Insurance at 8% between £12,570 and £50,270 and 2% above adds £3,147. What is left, £43,509, is converted back to $57,437.

Every other country follows the same steps with its own bands, credits and contributions, which is why the method is transparent but also simpler than a full tax return in any of them.

What the next $1,000 costs at $75,000

Marginal rates show how much of a raise each system takes. Income tax plus employee contributions on an extra $1,000 for a single employee already earning $75,000: