The global decline in top personal income tax rates over the past seven years may be coming to an end due to the need for new sources of budgetary and stimulus funding among governments, according to a survey released Monday by Big 4 accounting firm KPMG International, and that shift may have implications for international assignment programs and future global workforce mobility trends. Ireland was the first country in Europe to significantly boost its maximum income tax levels, followed by Iceland. Similar moves are underway the UK. A comparison ranks Switzerland 13th, behind several eastern European countries, which have a flat tax system, as well as the British Channel Islands, Finland and Cyprus. The average rate in Switzerland last year was 33.7 per cent, up 0.2 per cent on the previous year. The Irish rate, including social security, was 46 per cent.