OECD says taxes on wages continue to rise. - Personal income tax has risen in 25 out of 34 OECD countries over the past three years, as countries reduce the value of tax-free allowances and tax credits and subject higher proportions of earnings to tax, according to new data in the annual Taxing Wages publication published on 11 April by the OECD. The increases in tax burdens on labour income in 2013 were largest in Portugal, the Slovak Republic and the United States. The OECD said the average tax burden on employment incomes across the OECD increased by 0.2 of a percentage point in 2013, to 35.9 percent, according to the report. It increased in 21 out of 34 countries, fell in 12, and remained unchanged in one. The 2013 rise follows a substantial increase in 2011 and a smaller one in 2012. The OECD explained that since 2010, the tax burden has increased in 21 OECD countries and fallen in 9, partially reversing the reductions seen between 2007 and 2010. The study also demonstrates that: 1) Ireland, Sweden and Slovenia report the greatest rise in progressive taxation for single taxpayers without children, while the largest decreases in progressivity for single taxpayers without children were seen in Germany, Hungary and Israel; 2) The highest average tax burdens for childless single workers earning the average wage in their country were observed in Belgium (55.8%), Germany (49.3%), Austria (49.1%) and Hungary (49.0%). The lowest were in Chile (7%), New Zealand (16.9%) and Mexico (19.2%); 3) The average tax burden for those earning the average wage has increased by a 0.8 percentage points between 2010 and 2013 to reach 35.9 per cent, following a decline from 36.1 to 35.1 per cent between 2007 and 2010; 4) Personal income tax was the main contributor to the 2013 increase in the average OECD total tax wedge (this includes income taxes and the taxes employers pay on wages) with increases as percentage of total labour costs in 20 countries. The largest increases were in Portugal and Luxembourg; 5) The highest tax wedges for one-earner/two children families at the average wage were in Greece, France, Belgium and Austria. New Zealand had the smallest tax wedge for these families, followed by Ireland, Chile and Switzerland; 6) The largest increases in the tax burden for one earner families with children were in New Zealand, Portugal and the Slovak Republic. The largest falls were in France and the Netherlands; 7) In all OECD countries except Mexico and Chile, the tax wedge for families with children is lower than that for single individuals without children. The differences are particularly large in the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Germany, Ireland and Slovenia. (IL)