How the take-home pay calculator works
Enter one gross annual salary in your currency and choose up to five places to compare. Each place is taxed entirely in its own currency — we convert your figure in using live exchange rates, apply that country's income tax and mandatory employee social contributions, then convert the net pay back so you can compare like for like. The effective tax rate shown for each place is currency-independent, which makes it the most honest number to compare across borders. Exchange rates refresh automatically and are editable if you'd rather model your own.
What's included — and what isn't
Every result models a single, tax-resident, employed person with no dependents, using only the universal allowances everyone gets. It covers income tax plus mandatory employee social contributions (the equivalents of US FICA, UK National Insurance, and so on) — the deductions that actually come off a payslip.
It deliberately leaves out employer contributions, voluntary or occupational pensions, student-loan repayments, most city and local taxes (such as New York City's), wealth and church taxes, tax-treaty interactions, and the many personal reliefs that depend on your exact situation. Some countries with region-dependent or formula-based systems — Germany, France, Switzerland, the Nordics and a few others — use clearly-flagged approximations. Tax years differ by region and are printed on each card. In short: a fast, well-sourced estimate, not a filing tool.
What drives the differences
Two levers explain most of the spread. The first is income tax, usually charged on progressive brackets so higher earnings are taxed at higher rates. The second — the one people forget — is social contributions: pension, health, and unemployment deductions that in some countries rival income tax itself.
- Zero-income-tax hubs. The Gulf states — the UAE (Dubai), Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain — fund government largely without payroll taxes, so expats keep close to 100% of gross.
- High-tax social democracies. Belgium, Germany, France and the Nordics run 35–45%+ effective rates that pay for universal healthcare, pensions and education.
- Flat vs progressive. Some places (Illinois, much of the Gulf, lower brackets elsewhere) keep it simple; most use rising brackets.
- Where you live within a country matters. US states, Canadian provinces, Swiss cantons and Spanish regions all set their own rates — we model a representative one (labelled on each card) since it can swing the result by several points.
A worked example: $100,000 compared
Take a $100,000 salary. Taxed under US federal rules (single filer) you keep roughly $79,000 — about a 21% effective rate once FICA is included. Run the same figure through the UK and you'd keep around 71% after income tax and National Insurance (~29% effective). In Germany, layered social insurance and income tax push the effective rate past 40%. And in Dubai, with no personal income tax, you keep the lot — a 0% effective rate. Same gross, wildly different outcomes: that gap is exactly what the tool is built to show.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to pay tax in both countries?
Usually not on the same income. Most countries tax residents on worldwide income, but double-taxation treaties and foreign tax credits generally stop you being taxed twice — you typically get a credit in one country for tax paid in the other. The major exception is the United States, which taxes its citizens and green-card holders wherever they live. This calculator models tax in one country at a time and does not account for treaty interactions, so check the specific treaty and a cross-border tax professional for your case.
I'm a US expat — what is the Foreign Earned Income Exclusion (FEIE)?
The US is one of the only countries that taxes by citizenship rather than residence, so American citizens and green-card holders generally must keep filing US returns while living abroad. The FEIE (IRS Form 2555) lets qualifying expats exclude a large slice of foreign earned income from US tax — about $130,000 for 2025, indexed each year — and the Foreign Tax Credit can offset US tax with foreign tax already paid. Whether you owe anything to the US on top of local tax depends on your income and country. This tool shows local take-home only; it does not model US expat filing.
How accurate is this, and what's excluded?
Treat every figure as an estimate, not tax advice. It models income tax plus mandatory employee social contributions for a single, resident, employed person with no dependents. It excludes employer contributions, voluntary pensions, student loans, most city/local taxes, wealth and church taxes, tax-treaty effects, and situation-specific reliefs. A few countries (Germany, France, Switzerland, the Nordics and others, all flagged) use deliberate approximations because their systems are region-dependent or formula-driven. For anything that matters, confirm against an official calculator and a qualified professional.
Which country has the best take-home pay?
For raw take-home on the same gross, the zero-income-tax Gulf states — the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain — leave expats with close to 100%. Among major economies, lower-tax systems like the US (in no-state-tax states such as Texas or Florida), Singapore and Hong Kong tend to leave more than high-tax social democracies such as Belgium, Germany, France and the Nordics. But "best" is a trade-off: those higher taxes fund healthcare, pensions and more, and cost of living isn't in this number. Use the comparison to see the spread for your salary.