It’s tax season and all over the world people are gazing at imposing-looking documents with a mixture of puzzlement and fear as they try to estimate how much they owe for the year. In most discussions of tax, it’s the marginal rates that attract the most attention. How many times have you heard someone say that Uncle Sam takes “a third” of what you make? Often these people are mistaking the highest marginal tax rate (39.6% in the USA) for the actual percentage of their income that they must pay. Most people are not subject to the highest marginal rates in their jurisdiction. It’s the effective rate that should be at the forefront of people’s minds as they assess their own tax liability.

We took a look at the effective tax rates in eight cities around the world to see what their effective tax rate is on the average income earned in that city. What we discovered is interesting; many high-tax economies, such as France and the UK tax average salaries at a much lower rate than their eye-popping upper-level tax rates would suggest. Some places, such as Sao Paolo, have average wages so low they wouldn’t qualify to be taxed at all.

We didn’t include expense deductions in these calculations, which are dependent on individual choice and circumstance or social insurance premiums. However, these numbers give a rough sense of what percentage of average annual incomes are taxed away all over the world.

Take a look at the list below; where would you rather live?