Obama's Planned Increase in Top Tax Rate Contrary to International Trend

As the United States awaits to see how President-elect Obama implements his campaign promise to increase the tax burden on those earning more than $250,000 per year, KPMG has released a new study (Individual Income Tax Rate Survey 2008) documenting a downward trend in the highest tax rates in 87 countries over the past six years, from 31.3% in 2003 to 28.8% in 2008: 

We have concentrated on the highest rates of tax payable to central government in each country, and for ease of comparison we have, where possible, excluded other taxes like social security contributions, municipal taxes and employment taxes.

The picture that emerges is of a slow global decline in top rate personal income taxes, from an average of 31.3% in 2003 to 28.8% in 2008. But this conceals some very different tax histories at a regional and country level.