POLITICO French surpass Belgians as EU’s highest taxpayers Employees in France need to work until July 29 just to pay their taxes.

After five consecutive years as the country with the highest-taxed employees in the EU, Belgium has given up that title to France.

A study by Institut Économique Molinari shows that Belgium now taxes labor at the second highest rate in the EU, after Prime Minister Charles Michel’s government reduced the real tax rate for workers from 59.47 percent to 56.9 percent.

That brings forward the date of the so-called Tax Liberation Day for Belgians by nine days, to July 27, 2016, according to the study. A tax freedom day is the date on which an employee in theory stops working to pay taxes to the government, and begins to keep their earnings.

Among EU countries, France now has the latest Tax Liberation Day, July 29. Cyprus has the earliest, with taxpayers beginning to keep their pay from March 29.

Belgians, according to the study, are now the second most expensive employees to hire in the EU, costing an employer an average real gross salary of €59,482. But they rank ninth in net income, which averages at €27,515.

Employers in Luxembourg must pay the most for their workers -- €62,685 -- but a worker also earns the most on average in the EU -- €38,249.

The study used OECD and national statistics office salary figures as a baseline. Payroll tax calculations were made by Ernst and Young.

“Much still needs to be done in Belgium, but the current government has demonstrated its capacity to reverse the trend of the average Belgian employee,” said Cécile Philippe, one of the authors of the study.