The global financial centres index (GFCI) 3 - Z/Yen

The Global Financial Centres Index
(such as sales tax or value added tax) but not paid by the
company are excluded. The taxes included can be divided into
five categories: profit or corporate income tax, social security
contributions and other labour taxes paid by the employer,
property taxes, turnover taxes, and other small taxes (such as
municipal fees and vehicle and fuel taxes). Table 8 shows a
selection of cities and their rates (from highest to lowest).
Table 8
Total Corporate
Tax Rate Index –
Selected Cities *
City
Total Tax Rate
Beijing 73.9%
Shanghai 73.9%
Sao Paulo 69.2%
Paris 66.3%
Brussels 64.3%
Madrid 62.0%
Budapest 55.1%
Vienna 54.6%
Stockholm 54.5%
Osaka 52.0%
Tokyo 52.0%
Moscow 51.4%
St Petersburg 51.4%
Frankfurt 50.8%
Munich 50.8%
Melbourne 50.6%
Sydney 50.6%
Tallinn 49.2%
Helsinki 47.8%
City
Total Tax Rate
Boston 46.2%
Chicago 46.2%
New York 46.2%
San Francisco 46.2%
Washington D.C. 46.2%
Montreal 45.9%
Toronto 45.9%
Vancouver 45.9%
Johannesburg 37.1%
Edinburgh 35.7%
London 35.7%
Luxembourg 35.3%
Wellington 35.1%
Geneva 29.1%
Zurich 29.1%
Dublin 28.9%
Hong Kong 24.4%
Singapore 23.2%
Dubai 14.4%
*Source: World Bank
Although taxes aren’t the only key to a competitive business
environment rating on the GFCI, they certainly contribute to a
dynamic and international presence. An additional level of
complexity comes from federalised political and economic
systems (states and national government in the US, or memberstates
of the European Union):
Some financial services centres are dependent on concessions
from trading blocks to continue to offer the transparent
tax regimes necessary for financial services (EU centres).
They are less attractive than centres which are in full control of
their fiscal policies.
40