Heat map: Personal income tax rates across Asia

Singapore and Hong Kong amongst the lowest.

According to KPMG’s Individual  Income Tax and  Social Security, Hong Kong and Singapore continue to offer very attractive personal income tax rates, and rates remained constant in the other Asian heavyweights (China, Japan and India) who have not altered their top rate of tax in any of the years in which we have been collecting data for this survey.

That being said, KPMG notes that there are indications that this trend is set to change with permanent residents of Japan soon becoming subject to a Special Reconstruction Surtax which will start next year with the intention of helping fund the rebuild in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake.  

Here's more from KPMG

Rate Survey 2012Western Asia has also seen some movement in tax rates over the past year. In October 2011 (shortly after the publication of last year’s survey), Cyprus  increased its top marginal income tax rate from 30 percent to 35 percent, and applied the change retroactively from 1 January 2011. In 2012, Armenia also raised its tax rate by 5 percent and plans to introduce a further 1 percent increase in 2013. Israel also increased its top marginal tax rate (by 3 percentage points to 48 percent) and Georgia, which has not altered its top rate of tax for several years, signaled an intention to decrease its rate  from 20 to 18 percent effective 2013. And while the remainder of Asia was  largely quiet on the rate change front,  South Korea introduced an additional tax band with a 3 percent increase in an effort to target high earners as a source  of additional revenue.
 

Join Singapore Business Review community
A NOTE FROM SINGAPORE BUSINESS REVIEW

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.


The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.


So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.