Mexico Tops Study On Corporate Tax Burden Among 10 Western Countries

Ottawa, Ontario (AHN) - A study by the global auditing company KPMG LLP said Mexico has the lowest corporate tax burden among 10 Western nations.

Mexico was followed by the Netherlands. Canada, Australia and the U.S.

The audit firm computed the total tax index using the U.S. as the benchmark with a score of 100. Canada's total tax index was 78.8, the Netherlands had 78.3 and Mexico scored 70.2.

Aside from corporate income tax rates, the study also included levies on goods, property, capital, labor and local taxes. On the bottom five after the U.S. were Japan, Germany, Britain, Italy and France.

Canada's good rating is a result of recent innovations introduced by the Harper government, including the 2006 elimination of the federal capital tax, and this year's reduction of the corporate income tax rate to 19.5 percent from 21 percent. By 2012 this rate will be cut to 15 percent.

Gary Wiebe, managing partner at KPMG, said the study excluded China, India, Brazil and other emerging markets because of rapid and frequent tax policy changes.