Replying to my earlier thread on state and local tax rates, commenter Skwang asked, "Would it be possible to see a similar chart for some other OECD countries? Such as the UK, Canada, and (everyone's favorite country to compare to) France?"Sort of! I don't have the data to make the exact comparisons, but a recent OECD release did have information on the share of market income held, and share of federal taxes paid, by the top 10 percent in various developed nations. The following graph shows the comparison:
You'll notice a couple things here: The first is that the United States has the most progressive federal tax system of any country on the chart. Indeed, in the OECD, only Ireland is more progressive than we are. That might change if state and local taxes were added into the mix, but I don't have the data to do that myself. The second striking trend helps explain the first: The top decile accounts for a much greater share of the national income in the U.S. than in any other nation. Looking at this graph, the progressivity of the tax system appears tightly related to the inequality present in the country. Which isn't really a surprise: If the rich have all the money, then who else are you going to tax? What you don't see in this graph is the "spending" side of the equation, which in Europe is rather more progressive than it is in the United States. Put simply, the middle class and the poor get a lot more for their tax dollars than they do here. It's thus not necessarily surprising that they're somewhat more willing to contribute them. Robert Waldmann has some related observations. He argues, among other things, that Europe's regressive tax structures help explain the slow growth of recent years. I'm not terribly familiar with that argument, though I'd be curious to know how it accounts for the Nordic countries, which have, in recent years, seen relatively little tax inequality and extremely impressive growth.
You'll notice a couple things here: The first is that the United States has the most progressive federal tax system of any country on the chart. Indeed, in the OECD, only Ireland is more progressive than we are. That might change if state and local taxes were added into the mix, but I don't have the data to do that myself. The second striking trend helps explain the first: The top decile accounts for a much greater share of the national income in the U.S. than in any other nation. Looking at this graph, the progressivity of the tax system appears tightly related to the inequality present in the country. Which isn't really a surprise: If the rich have all the money, then who else are you going to tax? What you don't see in this graph is the "spending" side of the equation, which in Europe is rather more progressive than it is in the United States. Put simply, the middle class and the poor get a lot more for their tax dollars than they do here. It's thus not necessarily surprising that they're somewhat more willing to contribute them. Robert Waldmann has some related observations. He argues, among other things, that Europe's regressive tax structures help explain the slow growth of recent years. I'm not terribly familiar with that argument, though I'd be curious to know how it accounts for the Nordic countries, which have, in recent years, seen relatively little tax inequality and extremely impressive growth. 
