Belgium wins the Bronze medal!

Belgians have to hand over, on average, 44.8 percent of all their earnings to the state. The fiscal burden in Belgium in 2006 was the third highest in the countries of the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development), after Sweden and Denmark. This emerges in provisional figures from this organisation. The tax burden in Belgium did drop in comparison to 2005.
The tax burden is measured by the OECD in a percentage of the GDP. This comes to 44.8 percent in Belgium for 2006. Only in Sweden (50.1 percent) and Denmark (49 percent) is the figure higher.
All three countries did show a fall in the tax burden compared to 2005.

Belgium's tax burden is quite a bit higher than the OECD average. For 2005 – the last year for which complete figures are available – the average percentage was 36.2.