The OECD's annual publication “Taxing Wages” says that the average tax and social security burden on employment income has increased in 19 out of 34 countries, fell in 14, and remained unchanged in 1. The average worker in Ireland faced a tax burden on labour income of 25.9% in 2012 while the average worker in the United Kingdom faced a tax burden on labour income of 32.3% in 2012. The OECD average is 35.6%. The United Kingdom was ranked 23 and Ireland ranked 28 of the 34 OECD member countries in this respect (in decreasing order).

The tax burden is measured by the ‘tax wedge as a percentage of total labour costs’ or the total taxes paid by employees and employers, minus family benefits received, divided by the total labour costs of the employer. Taxing Wages also breaks down the tax burden between personal income taxes, including tax credits, and employee and employer Social Security Contributions.

Some examples of the results reflected in the Overview charts for Ireland are:

• The tax burden for the single average worker decreased by 3 percentage points from 28.9% to 25.9% between 2000 and 2012. But between 2009 and 2012, there was an increase of 1.2 percentage points.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from 36.7% to 35.6% between 2000 and 2012 and an increase of 0.6 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.
• The tax burden for the one-earner couple with 2 children at the AW (average wage) level decreased by 9.1 percentage points from 15.5% to 6.4% between 2000 and 2012. Between 2009 and 2012, there was an increase of 3.6 percentage points.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from 27.7% to 26.1% between 2000 and 2012 and an increase of 1.1 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.

Some examples of the results reflected in the Overview charts for the United Kingdom are:

• The tax burden for the single average worker decreased by 0.3 percentage points from 32.6% to 32.3% between 2000 and 2012. Between 2009 and 2012, there was a decrease of 0.1 percentage point.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 1.1 percentage points from 36.7% to 35.6% between 2000 and 2012 and an increase of 0.6 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.
• The tax burden for the one-earner couple with 2 children at the AW (average wage) level increased by 0.1 percentage point from 27.8% to 27.9% between 2000 and 2012. Between 2009 and 2012, there was an increase of 1.7 percentage points.
• The corresponding figures for the OECD were a decrease of 1.6 percentage points from 27.7% to 26.1% between 2000 and 2012 and an increase of 1.1 percentage points between 2009 and 2012.

The report Taxing Wages is published annual by the OECD and is available on the OECD website together with the Overview charts for each country under the section “Country Information”.