Dividend Tax Rates in Europe

Tax Foundation Research & Analysis

Published January 1st, 2025

Detected March 24th, 2026

Summary

The Tax Foundation's analysis of dividend tax rates in 35 European countries for 2025 shows Ireland with the highest top rate at 51%, followed by Denmark at 42% and the UK at 39.35%. Estonia, Latvia, and Malta are noted as not levying dividend taxes.

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What changed

This analysis details the net top statutory dividend tax rates paid at the shareholder level in 35 major European countries for the year 2025. Ireland leads with the highest rate at 51%, with Denmark and the United Kingdom following at 42% and 39.35%, respectively. The report highlights that Estonia, Latvia, and Malta are exceptions, levying no dividend tax due to their corporate tax systems or offset mechanisms.

While this document is an analysis and not a regulation, compliance officers in financial services and investment firms should be aware of these varying tax burdens when advising clients or structuring cross-border investments. The data provides a comparative overview for strategic financial planning and tax compliance considerations within the European investment landscape.

What to do next

Review comparative dividend tax rates for 2025 across European countries.
Assess impact of varying dividend tax rates on investment strategies and client advice.

Source document (simplified)

Many countries’ personal income tax A tax is a mandatory payment or charge collected by local, state, and national governments from individuals or businesses to cover the costs of general government services, goods, and activities. systems tax various sources of individual income—including investment income such as dividends and capital gains. The highest tax rate individuals pay on dividend income differs significantly across European countries.

A dividend is a payment made to a corporation’s shareholders from corporate after-tax profits. In most countries, such dividend payments are subject to dividend tax. The dividend tax rates shown in the accompanying map reflect the top personal dividend tax rate, after accounting for all imputations, credits, or offsets.

2026 Data 2025 2024 2023 2021 2020 2019

Expand or Collapse Table

Dividend Tax Rates in Europe

Net Top Statutory Dividend Tax Rate Paid at the Shareholder Level in 35 Major European Countries, 2025

| Country | Net Top Statutory Dividend Tax Rate Paid at the Shareholder Level | Rank |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Austria | 27.50% | 12 |
| Belgium | 30.00% | 7 |
| Bulgaria | 5.00% | 30 |
| Croatia | 12.00% | 26 |
| Cyprus | 17.00% | 22 |
| Czech Republic | 23.00% | 16 |
| Denmark | 42.00% | 2 |
| Estonia | 0.00% | 33 |
| Finland | 28.90% | 10 |
| France | 34.00% | 6 |
| Georgia | 5.00% | 30 |
| Germany | 26.38% | 13 |
| Greece | 5.00% | 30 |
| Hungary | 15.00% | 24 |
| Iceland | 22.00% | 18 |
| Ireland | 51.00% | 1 |
| Italy | 26.00% | 14 |
| Latvia | 0.00% | 33 |
| Lithuania | 15.00% | 24 |
| Luxembourg | 21.00% | 19 |
| Malta | 0.00% | 33 |
| Moldova | 6% | 29 |
| Netherlands | 36.00% | 5 |
| Norway | 37.84% | 4 |
| Poland | 19.00% | 21 |
| Portugal | 28.00% | 11 |
| Romania | 16.00% | 23 |
| Slovakia | 7.00% | 27 |
| Slovenia | 25.00% | 15 |
| Spain | 30.00% | 7 |
| Sweden | 30.00% | 7 |
| Switzerland | 22.16% | 17 |
| Turkey | 20.00% | 20 |
| Ukraine | 6.50% | 28 |
| United Kingdom | 39.35% | 3 |
Note: All types of reliefs and gross-up provisions at the shareholder level are taken into account.
Source: OECD, “Combined (corporate and shareholder) statutory tax rates on dividend income” and PwC, "Worldwide Tax Summaries." Data compiled by Cristina Enache

Ireland has the highest top dividend tax rate among the covered European countries at 51 percent. Denmark and the United Kingdom follow, at 42 percent and 39.35 percent, respectively.

Estonia, Latvia, and Malta are the only European countries covered that do not levy a tax on dividend income. For Estonia and Latvia, this is due to their cash-flow-based corporate tax system: instead of levying a dividend tax, they levy a corporate income tax A corporate income tax (CIT) is levied by federal and state governments on business profits. Many companies are not subject to the CIT because they are taxed as pass-through businesses, with income reportable under the individual income tax. of 22 and 20 percent, respectively, when a business distributes its profits to shareholders. Malta, in contrast, allows shareholders to offset personal income tax on their dividend income against its 35 percent corporate tax rate, resulting in a zero percent top rate.

Of the countries that do levy a dividend tax, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Greece have the lowest tax rate at 5 percent, followed by Moldova and Ukraine at 6 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively.

For comparison, the United States applies a combined state and federal dividend tax rate of 28.73 percent.

Among the 35 European countries, the average top dividend tax rate is 20.82 percent.

Notable Changes

Several European countries have changed their dividend tax rate in the last year.

Romania raised the dividend tax rate from 10 to 16 percent in 2026.
Slovakia’s rate returned to 7 percent starting on January 2025 .
Spain increased its top dividend tax rate from 28 to 30 percent starting in 2025.
The Netherlands increased the tax rate in 2025 from 33 percent to 36 percent. In many countries, corporate profits are subject to two layers of taxation: the corporate income tax at the entity level when the corporation earns income, and the dividend tax or capital gains tax A capital gains tax is levied on the profit made from selling an asset and is often in addition to corporate income taxes, frequently resulting in double taxation. These taxes create a bias against saving, leading to a lower level of national income by encouraging present consumption over investment. at the individual level when that income is passed to shareholders as either dividends or capital gains. Some countries, however, have integrated their taxation of corporate and dividend/capital gains income to eliminate such double taxation.

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About the Author

Expert

Cristina Enache

Economist Cristina Enache writes on the economics of tax policy and is the author of the Spanish Regional Tax Competitiveness Index. She was formerly the Director of Research at Civismo, an economic research organization based in Spain. She also served as head of research at Institución Futuro, a regional think tank based in Navarra in northern Spain. She is also currently Secretary-General at the World Taxpayers Associations and General Manager of the Spanish Taxpayers Union, which she joined in 2016.