Tax burdens and revenue collection in advanced economies are back at pre-financial crisis levels according to the OECD’s annual analysis, which also shows that the UK has one of the highest rates of property taxes
The OECD figures show that the average tax burden in OECD countries (the ratio of total tax revenues to GDP) increased by 0.4 percentage points in 2013, to 34.1%. This compares with 33.7% in 2012 and 33.3% in 2011 and is close to the previous peak average of 34.3% in 2000.
The largest increases in 2013 occurred in Portugal, Turkey, Slovak Republic, Denmark and Finland, while the largest falls were in Norway, Chile and New Zealand.
According to the OECD’s Revenue Statistics report the UK’s total tax burden declined by 0.1 percentage points from 33.0% to 32.9% in 2013. The largest proportion of tax receipts came from tax on goods and services (33%), which is in line with the OECD average, followed by taxes on personal income, profits and gains which at 28% of the total is slightly above the 25% OECD average.
However, the figure show the UK raises double the average amount of its total tax from property taxes – 12% compared to 6%.
The OECD’s research indicates Denmark has the highest tax-to-GDP ratio among OECD countries (48.6% in 2013), followed by France (45%) and Belgium (44.6%). Mexico (19.7% in 2013) and Chile (20.2%) have the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios, followed by Korea (24.3%), and the United States (25.4%).
Three countries – Iceland, Israel and Spain – all have a tax burden which remains more than three percentage points below the 2007 (pre-recession) levels. The biggest fall has been in Israel – from 34.7% in 2007 to 30.5% of GDP in 2013.
The 2014 OECD Revenue Statistics are here: http://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-19963726.htm
The UK country summary is here: http://www.oecd.org/ctp/tax-policy/revenue-statistics-and-consumption-tax-trends-2014-united-kingdom.pdf
