European Property Taxes Compared: UK Leads as US and Canada Outpace Most

Property taxes, old instrument, modern balance sheet

Property taxation has outlasted the feudal system that first relied on it. Early levies fell mainly on land and farmers; today, governments commonly tax real estate on a recurring basis, with individuals and legal entities responsible for the bill. The history of property tax in America helps explain the continuity. The modern policy question is how heavily countries tax property relative to the capital tied up in it—and whether businesses can deduct those taxes from corporate income.

How European rates compare

The 2024 figures show a wide spread. The United Kingdom stands at 2.04% of private capital stock, the highest rate in the table; France and Greece are each at 1.08%, while Poland is at 1.01%. At the other end, Liechtenstein and Malta report no real property or land tax, and Luxembourg and Moldova are each at 0.05%. The United States, included for comparison, is at 1.882%; Canada is at 1.581%. Those numbers put both North American countries above most European entries, though the table alone doesn’t explain differences in tax bases or local rules. If you’re comparing the burden on property owners across countries, the headline rate is only part of the story. Most listed countries allow real property or land taxes to be deducted from corporate income tax. Austria, Iceland, Italy and Slovenia are exceptions; Liechtenstein and Malta have no such tax, so deductibility is marked not applicable. Belgium’s tax applies to imputed rental income and also covers machinery. Germany’s state level rules vary from 2025, with Baden-Württemberg using a land value tax. The figures for property tax as a share of private capital stock are calculated from 2024 OECD revenue data and the IMF’s private capital stock dataset. Tax types and deductibility are drawn from PwC’s 2025 Worldwide Tax Summaries. The data offer a useful comparison, but they don’t by themselves show what households or firms actually pay in each jurisdiction.

Real Property Taxes in Europe, as of 2024

Country	Property tax as share of private capital stock	Real property or land tax	Deductible from corporate income tax
Austria	0.10%	Tax on real property	No
Belgium	0.69%	Tax on real property (a)	Yes
Bulgaria	0.26%	Tax on real property	Yes
Croatia	0.54%	Tax on real property	Yes
Czech Republic	0.16%	Tax on real property	Yes
Denmark	0.55%	Tax on real property	Yes
Estonia	0.09%	Land tax	Yes
Finland	0.42%	Tax on real property	Yes
France	1.08%	Tax on real property	Yes
Georgia	0.66%	Tax on real property	Yes
Germany	0.22%	Tax on real property (b)	Yes
Greece	1.08%	Tax on real property	Yes
Hungary	0.24%	Tax on real property	Yes
Iceland	1.43%	Tax on real property	No
Ireland	0.28%	Tax on real property	Yes
Italy	0.61%	Tax on real property	No
Latvia	0.38%	Tax on real property	Yes
Liechtenstein	0.00%	None	NA
Lithuania	0.24%	Tax on real property	Yes
Luxembourg	0.05%	Tax on real property	Yes
Malta	0.00%	None	NA
Moldova	0.05%	Tax on real property	Yes
Netherlands	0.40%	Tax on real property	Yes
Norway	0.20%	Tax on real property	Yes
Poland	1.01%	Tax on real property	Yes
Portugal	0.39%	Tax on real property	Yes
Romania	0.27%	Tax on real property	Yes
Slovak Republic	0.34%	Tax on real property	Yes
Slovenia	0.31%	Tax on real property	No
Spain	0.58%	Tax on real property	Yes
Sweden	0.36%	Tax on real property	Yes
Switzerland	0.08%	Tax on real property	Yes
Turkey	0.14%	Tax on real property	Yes
United Kingdom	2.04%	Tax on real property	Yes
Canada	1.581%	Tax on real property	Yes
United States (for comparison)	1.882%	Tax on real property	Yes

Notes: (a) Belgium’s tax applies to imputed rent on properties and to machinery. (b) German state rules diverge from 2025; Baden-Württemberg uses a land value tax. Sources: OECD Data Explorer, “Comparative tables of Revenue Statistics in OECD member countries: 4100 Recurrent taxes on immovable property” (2024); IMF, “Investment and Capital Stock Dataset: Private capital stock (current cost)”; PwC, “Worldwide Tax Summaries” (2025).

The source also includes a chart for 2025 (datawrapper-vis-qYWwD) and tabbed data for 2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2020 and 2019.

Property tax burdens vary sharply across Europe

The gap between countries is striking: property taxes equal 2.570% of private capital stock in the United Kingdom and 1.164% in Greece, compared with 0.001% in Hungary and 0.000% in Liechtenstein and Malta. The United States, included as a benchmark, stands at 1.812%. These figures capture tax revenue relative to private capital stock, so they indicate the scale of the burden against that base rather than a rate applied uniformly to each property.

France also sits near the high end, at 1.134%, while Austria is at 0.110% and the Czech Republic at 0.004%. Most listed countries tax real property; Estonia calls its levy a land tax. Liechtenstein and Malta report no such tax. The table marks property taxes deductible from corporate income tax in most countries, but not in Austria, Estonia, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Slovenia or Spain. Belgium’s tax is described as applying to imputed rent and machinery, while Germany’s rules vary by state from 2025.

The comparison has limits

Changes from the prior year’s table aren’t uniform. The 2023 data put the United Kingdom at 2.570%, up from 1.94% in the 2022 comparison, while Greece edged from 1.13% to 1.164%. Some other movements are much larger: Denmark fell from 0.75% to 0.110%, and Poland from 0.95% to 0.245%. The figures alone don’t explain those shifts, so they shouldn’t be read as evidence of policy changes without further context.

The 2023 calculations use OECD revenue data and IMF private capital stock data; tax classifications and deductibility come from PwC’s 2025 summaries. The prior table uses 2022 data and PwC’s 2023 summaries. That difference in source years matters when comparing the two snapshots. The data was compiled by Alex Mengden.

Property taxes can give local governments a reason to permit development and help pay for public services whose value is reflected in property prices. But when taxes apply to buildings and other structures as well as land, they raise the cost of investment. Businesses may respond by locating elsewhere, as discussed in this research. That’s the tension behind the rankings: revenue can support local services, while a heavier tax burden on capital may weigh on business investment.

What the revenue figures reveal

The biggest difference across Europe isn’t just how much property tax governments collect; it’s how they define and treat the tax base. Liechtenstein and Malta levy no recurrent property taxes. Estonia taxes land alone, a design that makes its real property taxA property tax is primarily levied on immovable property like land and buildings, as well as on tangible personal property that is movable, like vehicles and equipment. Property taxes are the single largest source of state and local revenue in the U.S. and help fund schools, roads, police, and other services. the most efficient among the countries shown.

For businesses, deductibility changes the effective burden. Of the 32 countries that levy property taxes, 28 let businesses deduct property or land taxes from corporate income, easing the cost and encouraging investment. Austria, Iceland, Italy, and Slovenia do not allow that deduction. The result is double taxationDouble taxation is when taxes are paid twice on the same dollar of income, regardless of whether that’s corporate or individual income. on business property.

Measured against private capital stock, the gap is stark. Luxembourg and Moldova collect about 0.05 percent, followed by Switzerland at 0.08 percent and Estonia at 0.09 percent. The highest shares are in the United Kingdom (2.04 percent), Iceland (1.43 percent), and France (1.08 percent). Across the 32 European countries with recurrent property taxes, the average is 0.45 percent. The United States, by comparison, raises as much as 1.88 percent of its private capital stock through these taxes. These figures show wide variation in revenue intensity; on their own, they don’t explain the underlying policy choices.

Households pay around 60 percent of property tax revenue in the 16 European countries that report the split between households and businesses. That share ranges from 7.4 percent in the Slovak Republic to 71.4 percent in France. If you’re comparing the burden on residents, that range matters as much as the headline tax rate.

Recent changes

Two reforms took effect in 2025. Germany devolved its property tax baseThe tax base is the total amount of income, property, assets, consumption, transactions, or other economic activity subject to taxation by a tax authority. A narrow tax base is non-neutral and inefficient. A broad tax base reduces tax administration costs and allows more revenue to be raised at lower rates. to the state level, and Baden-Württemberg used that authority to tax land value alone. Croatia introduced a recurrent property tax based on the square metres of land and floor area. The shift toward state level decisions in Germany leaves room for different approaches within the country; the available details here don’t establish how those approaches will affect collections.

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