Your Salary Isn't the Whole Tax Story

Episode 3 of our tax series: what happens to your pay? Your salary isn't everything your job costs – your employer may pay contributions on top. In a made-up $100 example, 65 reaches the worker: a 35% tax wedge. Real 2025 OECD figures for a single average earner without children: Belgium 52.5%, United States 30.0% – as a share of total employer cost, not of gross salary. So ask: what's included? Source: OECD, Taxing Wages 2026 – https://doi.org/10.1787/3a5169ef-en