The headline rate is rarely the rate a company pays. Surcharges, municipal taxes and regional levies sit on top of it in several markets, and two countries with the same statutory rate can land several points apart once those are counted.
- Headline and combined rates for every market HTLC Network operates in
- Where municipal or regional taxes move the effective figure
- Why the comparison matters when choosing where to place an entity
What is the corporate tax rate in each European market? The table covers the 34 markets where HTLC Network publishes the figure.
| Country | Corporate tax rate |
|---|---|
| Albania | 15% standard · 0% for turnover up to ALL 14M (~€120,700) through 31 December 2029 |
| Austria | 23% flat (minimum CIT: €500/year standard GmbH, €500/year reduced-capital GmbH billed at €125/quarter) |
| Belgium | 25% standard · 20% on first €100,000 profit for qualifying SMEs |
| Bulgaria | 10% flat (lowest in the EU) |
| Croatia | 10% for revenue up to €1M · 18% above €1M |
| Cyprus | 15% standard (raised from 12.5% on 1 January 2026) · ~3% effective on qualifying IP profit under the IP Box regime |
| Czech Republic | 21% flat rate (5% for basic investment funds, 0% for pension funds) |
| Denmark | 22% flat rate (26% for financial sector entities) |
| Estonia | 0% on retained/reinvested profit · 22% on distributed profit (22/78 of net dividend), 2026 |
| France | 25% standard · 15% reduced rate on first €42,500 of profit for qualifying SMEs |
| Germany | ~30–33% combined — 15% corporate tax + 5.5% solidarity surcharge + municipal trade tax (7–20.3%) |
| Greece | 22% standard (29% for certain credit institutions under the DTA regime) |
| Hungary | 9% flat (lowest in the EU) + local business tax up to 2% of net revenue + 0.3% innovation contribution |
| Ireland | 12.5% trading income · 25% passive income · 15% minimum effective rate (QDTT) for groups with consolidated revenue ≥ €750M |
| Israel | 23% standard · 16%/12% Preferred & Preferred Technological Enterprise tiers (7.5% in development zones) · 6% for tech groups with consolidated revenue above ILS 10 billion |
| Italy | 24% IRES + 3.9% IRAP (combined ~27.9%, IRAP variable ±0.92pp by region) |
| Japan | 23.2% national (15% on the first JPY 8M for SMEs with capital ≤JPY 100M); effective combined rate ~31.5–35.4% with local taxes |
| Kosovo | 10% flat (above €30,000 annual gross income) · 3% quarterly tax on gross receipts below that threshold |
| Lebanon | 17% flat |
| Lithuania | 17% standard (2026, up from 16%) · 7% for qualifying small companies · 0% for new small companies' first 2 tax periods |
| Malta | 35% nominal · ~5% effective for trading income via 6/7 shareholder refund · 15% flat under FITWI (no refund, since 2025) |
| Netherlands | 19% up to €200,000 taxable profit · 25.8% above that threshold |
| Poland | 19% standard · 9% for qualifying small taxpayers (revenue under €2M equivalent) and new companies in their first tax year |
| Portugal | 19% standard for 2026 (legislated reduction to 18% in 2027, 17% in 2028) · 15% reduced rate on first €50,000 of taxable income for SMEs |
| Romania | 16% standard · 1% of revenue for qualifying micro-companies (revenue under €100,000, at least 1 employee) |
| Serbia | 15% flat, no surcharges, no minimum tax |
| Singapore | 17% flat — one-tier system, no further tax on dividends |
| Slovakia | 10% up to €100,000 · 21% from €100,000 to €5M · 24% above €5M (2026) |
| South Korea | Progressive 10% / 20% / 22% / 25% (FYs from 1 Jan 2026) + 10% local surtax on the national tax — up to 27.5% effective |
| Spain | 25% standard · 23% for SMEs under €10M turnover (2026, reducing to 20% by 2029) · 15% for new companies, first 2 profitable years |
| Switzerland | 12–22%, depending on canton and municipality |
| Tunisia | 20% standard · 10% for wholly exporting companies and crafts/farming/fishing/export activities · 35%–40% for specific regulated sectors (banking, finance, insurance, telecom) |
| Turkey | 25% standard (30% for financial institutions) · domestic minimum tax floor of 10% of pre-exemption income applies to all corporate taxpayers (from FY2025) |
| United Kingdom | 25% main rate (profits > £250,000) · 19% small profits rate (profits < £50,000) · marginal relief between the two (effective ~26.5% at the margin) |
The table below lists the rate as published on each country page. Where a market applies more than one layer — a federal rate plus a municipal trade tax, for instance — the combined range is given rather than the headline alone, because the headline on its own is not comparable across jurisdictions.
Two cautions when reading it. First, a lower rate does not imply a lower total cost of employing and operating: payroll charges, audit obligations and filing burden vary independently of corporate tax. Second, several of these figures are ranges precisely because the final rate depends on the municipality of registration.
Figures are those published on the HTLC Network country pages, reviewed September 2026. Rates and thresholds change: confirm the current position for the country concerned before relying on it.
Corporate tax is one input among several in an entity location decision, and usually not the decisive one. Payroll cost, statutory audit thresholds and the administrative burden of ongoing filing often matter more over a five-year horizon.