Donald Trump's claim that "America is one of the highest-taxed countries in the world" is "False", says the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (chairs include Republican ex-Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Democratic ex-U.S. Rep. and CIA chief Leon Panetta).
Trump made the false tax claim in his Republican presidential nomination acceptance speech, "while promoting his huge tax cut proposal," the Responsible Budget people note. But "as a share of the economy, the United States is nowhere close to the “highest-taxed country in the world."
-- one-quarter of U.S. gross domestic product
-- one-third, on average, among the developed nations of the Organziation for Economic Cooperation and Development
-- up to one-half in rich northern European countries, led by Denmark, which is over 50 percent.
What about personal income taxe rates? Successful Dutch residents pay "the highest national income tax," 52 percent, vs. the top U.S. rate of under 40 percent. More from OECD here.
Top corporate tax rates? Trump is "closer to correct" here: the data shows the U.S. corporate rate is 39 percent (federal plus state and local average), while the OECD average is 25 percent.
But American businesses mostly don't pay that rate: The U.S. has so many tax breaks and exclusions that according to the Congressional Research Service U.S. businesses actually pay less than the world average. See also this survey of estimates by the Tax Foundation.
In short, Trump is wrong, and "the U.S. is not close to being the highest-taxed country in the world."
