Nordlet

The total tax burden on distributed profit: 29 countries ranked (2026)

The same €100 of company profit reaches its owner after roughly 5% total tax in Malta and almost 55% in Denmark. This ranking combines corporate income tax and the shareholder-level dividend tax for all 27 EU countries, the UK and the US.

Offentliggjort 2026-07-16Sidst revideret 2026-07-16

How the numbers are calculated

Total = corporate income tax + dividend tax × (1 − corporate rate): the company pays tax on its profit, distributes the rest, and the owner - a resident individual - pays dividend tax on what arrives. The table uses standard regimes and the top statutory dividend band; small-company rates and special regimes appear in the notes and the list below. Estonia, Latvia and Malta do not fit the classical pattern, so their rows state what actually happens there.

CountryCorporate taxDividend taxTotal
🇲🇹 Malta~5% effective (35% less the 6/7 refund)0% - full imputation~5%
🇧🇬 Bulgaria10%5%14.5%
🇨🇾 Cyprus15%5% SDC (non-domiciled: 0%)19.3% (non-domiciled: 15%)
🇱🇻 Latvia20% at distribution0% - taxed at company level20%
🇪🇪 Estonia22% at distribution0% - taxed at company level22%
🇭🇺 Hungary9%15% + 13% social (capped)≈22.7%
🇬🇷 Greece22%5%25.9%
🇸🇰 Slovakia21%7%26.5%
🇭🇷 Croatia18%12%27.8%
🇷🇴 Romania16%16%29.4%
🇱🇹 Lithuania17%15%29.5%
🇨🇿 Czechia21%15%32.9%
🇵🇱 Poland19%19%34.4%
🇺🇸 United States21% federal0–23.8% (qualified)21–39.8% + state taxes
🇱🇺 Luxembourg≈23.9% (Luxembourg City)Half the dividend at progressive rates≈41%
🇸🇮 Slovenia22%25%41.5%
🇵🇹 Portugal19%28%41.7%
🇫🇮 Finland20%≈25.5–28.9% effective≈40–43%
🇮🇹 Italy24% + 3.9% IRAP26%43.8% (46.7% incl. IRAP)
🇦🇹 Austria23%27.5%44.2%
🇸🇪 Sweden20.6%30% (3:12 allowance: 20%)44.4% (36.5% under 3:12)
🇧🇪 Belgium25% (20% on the first €100,000)30% (VVPRbis: 15%)47.5%
🇪🇸 Spain25%19–30%39.3–47.5%
🇮🇪 Ireland12.5%20% / 40% marginal + USC≈48% and up
🇩🇪 Germany≈30% incl. trade tax26.375%≈48.5%
🇫🇷 France25%31.4% flat tax (PFU)48.6%
🇳🇱 Netherlands19% / 25.8%24.5% / 31% (Box 2)38.8–48.8%
🇬🇧 United Kingdom25% (19% small profits)10.75–39.35%33.1–54.5%
🇩🇰 Denmark22%27% / 42%43.1–54.8%

[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Every rate above is documented, with links to the underlying law, on the country profile - the sources below cover the rows quoted most often.

Three clusters

Three patterns explain most of the table. Distribution-based systems (Estonia, Latvia) charge nothing until profit leaves the company and nothing extra when it reaches the owner. In the low flat-rate countries (Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Romania) both layers are small. Classical systems in the west and north stack a full corporate tax and a full personal capital-income tax - which is how Germany, France, the UK and Denmark all end up near or above 50%.

Malta is its own category: the statutory rate is the EU’s highest at 35%, but the shareholder refund of 6/7 of the tax on distributed trading profit brings the effective burden to about 5%, the lowest in this table.[1][2]

The small-company picture

For an owner-managed company the standard rates are often not the ones that matter. The best totals come from small-company regimes:

  • Lithuania, start-up relief: 0% corporate tax for the first two years + 15% dividends = 15% total (income ≤ €300,000, individual shareholders).
  • Slovakia, revenue up to €100,000: 10% + 7% = 16.3% total.
  • Romania, micro-enterprise: 1% of turnover + 16% dividends - under 20% total for a high-margin business (turnover ≤ €100,000, at least one employee).
  • Croatia, revenue up to €1m: 10% + 12% = 20.8% total.
  • Lithuania, small companies: 7% + 15% = 21.0% total.
  • Poland, small taxpayers: 9% + 19% = 26.3% total.
  • UK, small profits with a basic-rate owner: 19% + 10.75% = 27.7% total.[10][11][14][15]

What the ranking hides

Dividend taxes are often progressive, so the table shows the top band: a UK basic-rate taxpayer pays 10.75%, not 39.35%, and Denmark taxes the first DKK 79,400 a year at 27%, not 42%. Several countries also leave the first slice of dividends untaxed or taxed at a lower band.[15][17]

Some costs sit outside the table: Hungary adds a 13% social contribution on dividends up to an annual cap and a local business tax of up to 2% of revenue; Romania can add a health contribution; the US and German figures depend on state and municipal rates. The table also assumes the owner lives where the company is - a foreign owner pays the home country’s dividend tax instead, subject to withholding taxes and treaties.[9][12]

Ofte stillede spørgsmål

Which country has the lowest total tax on distributed company profit?

Malta, at about 5% after the 6/7 shareholder refund. Among countries without refund machinery, Bulgaria is lowest: 10% corporate tax plus 5% dividend tax - 14.5% in total.

Is Estonia’s 0% corporate tax really 0%?

Only while profit stays in the company. Distribution is taxed at 22% of the gross amount (about 28% of the net paid out), with no further tax at the shareholder.

Why not just compare corporate tax rates?

Because the owner pays twice. Ireland’s 12.5% looks like one of Europe’s lowest until dividends are taxed at marginal income-tax rates, taking the total near 48% - more than three times Bulgaria’s 14.5%.

Grænseoverskridende resultater afhænger af skattemæssigt bopælsland, regler for kontrollerede udenlandske selskaber (CFC) og reelt substans - en struktur på papiret er ikke nok. Se ansvarsfraskrivelsen nedenfor.

Kilder

Nummererede referencer citeret i denne artikel. Love linker til konsoliderede tekster i det officielle register.

  1. Income Tax Act (Cap. 123)Malta · lov
  2. Selskabsskat og refusioner - vejledningCommissioner for Tax and Customs · myndighed
  3. Selskabsskatteloven (ЗКПО)Finansministeriet · lov
  4. Selskabsskatteloven (N.118(I)/2002)Skattemyndighederne · lov
  5. Loven om særligt forsvarsbidragSkattemyndighederne · lov
  6. Selskabsskatteloven (Uzņēmumu ienākuma nodokļa likums)likumi.lv - lettisk lovgivning · lov
  7. Loven om indkomstskat (Tulumaksuseadus), konsolideret engelsk tekstRiigi Teataja - Statstidende · lov
  8. Selskabsskatteloven (1996. évi LXXXI. törvény)Nemzeti Jogszabálytár · lov
  9. Løn - indkomstskat og bidragNAV (skatte- og toldforvaltning) · myndighed
  10. Lov om selskabsskat (Pelno mokesčio įstatymas), konsolideret tekste-seimas.lrs.lt - Register over retsakter · lov
  11. Lov om personlig indkomstskat (Gyventojų pajamų mokesčio įstatymas), konsolideret tekste-seimas.lrs.lt - Register over retsakter · lov
  12. Selskabsbeskatning i TysklandGermany Trade & Invest (federal agency) · myndighed
  13. Personskatteloven (Einkommensteuergesetz, EStG)gesetze-im-internet.de - Federal law · lov
  14. Corporation Tax Act 2010legislation.gov.uk · lov
  15. PAYE, arbejdsmarkedsbidrag og udbytteHMRC (GOV.UK) · myndighed
  16. SelskabsskattelovenRetsinformation · lov
  17. Indkomstskattesatser og lønSkattestyrelsen · myndighed
  18. 26 U.S. Code §11 - skat pålagt selskabergovinfo.gov (U.S. GPO) · lov
  19. Emne 404 - UdbytteIRS · myndighed

Denne guide er generel information og ikke skatte- eller juridisk rådgivning. Satser og frister ændrer sig - verificer altid i forhold til de linkede love og officielle kilder, eller spørg en autoriseret rådgiver, før du foretager dig noget.