Average tax rate (income tax)

The title of this article is ambiguous. For the statistical term of the same name, see average tax rate (tax statistics ) .

Average tax rate function (general example)

In connection with income tax , the average tax rate indicates what percentage of total taxable income is to be paid in taxes. It must not be confused with the marginal tax rate, which denotes the percentage tax rate of the next unit of additional taxable income.

definition

The average tax rate is calculated by dividing the tax amount by the taxable income . ${\displaystyle {\bar {s}}}$ ${\displaystyle StB}$ ${\displaystyle zvE}$

${\displaystyle {\bar {s}}={\frac {\mathit {StB}}{\mathit {zvE}}}}$   respectively   ${\displaystyle {\bar {s}}={\frac {\mathit {StB}}{\mathit {zvE}}}\cdot 100\,\%}$

The effective tax burden differs from this. It can be defined as the ratio of the tax amount to gross income .

Germany

Average tax rate (solid lines) in Germany in 2018

The course of the average tax rate depending on the taxable income is shown in the tariff chart for the year 2018 (solid lines).

Example with the 2014 tariff in Germany

With a taxable income of € 48,000 and a tax amount of € 11,644 (excluding the solidarity surcharge), the income tax corresponds to 24.26% of the taxable income. This is the average tax rate for individual assessments. For a jointly assessed couple with the same common income, the average tax rate is only 14.86%.

See also

• Tax amount function
• Income tax rate
• Effective tax rate

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Tax Policy Rainald Borck LMU Munich SS 2008, slide 15 (PDF; 253 kB)
2. ↑ DIW: "Effective income tax burden: splitting procedure in Germany favors married couples compared to Great Britain" in DIW weekly report no. 17.2012, page 8, box 2 (PDF; 267 kB)