Brussels, 29/04/2013 (Agence Europe) - Tax income started to rise in 2010 in the EU27, Iceland, Norway and the eurozone in both absolute terms and as a percentage of GDP, following a fall in 2008 and 2009 due to the economic crisis. The rise in tax revenue is likely to continue but vary widely from one country to another due to different rates of tax. Tax on labour is the main source of tax income, rising in both the EU27 and the eurozone in 2011, but most member states these days are shifting taxation to consumption and increasing value-added tax rates. This is the main trend noted by Eurostat in a detailed report on changes in taxation in Europe, unveiled by the European Commission on Monday 29 April.
The report shows that the average overall tax burden in the EU27 was 38.8% of GDP and 39.5% in the eurozone in 2011, varying from less than 30% in Lithuania (26.0%), Bulgaria (27.2%), Latvia (27.6%), Romania (28.2%), Slovakia (28.5%) and Ireland (28.9%) to more than 40% in Denmark (47.7%), Sweden (44.3%), Belgium (44.1%), France (43.9%), Finland (43.4%), Italy (42.5%) and Austria (42.0%) with sharp rises seen in Portugal, Romania and France and falls in Estonia, Sweden and Lithuania. The average underlying rate of tax on labour rose between 2010 and 2011 from 35.4% to 35.8% of GDP in the EU27 and from 37.4% to 37.7% in the eurozone in 2011, following a fall in the previous ten years, with rates ranging between 22.7% in Malta and 42.8% in Belgium. Tax on capital rose from an average of 27.2% to 28.9% in the eurozone over the same period (no figures are available for the EU27 over this period).
Member states are shifting tax from labour to consumption with VAT rising from 19.7% on average to 20.1% in the EU27 and from 19.3% to 19.4% in the eurozone in 2011. Standard VAT varies widely, being 15.0% in Luxembourg and 27% in Hungary in 2013, and rising on average from 2012 to 2013 from 21.0% to 21.3% in the EU27 and from 20.1% to 20.4% in the eurozone, with Latvia the only country to cut the rate of VAT. Direct taxation on households and companies went up between 2012 and 2013 from an average of 38.1% to an average of 38.3% in the EU27 and from 43.1% to 43.3% in the eurozone for households and from 23.4% to 23.5% on average in the EU27 and from 26.0% to 26.5% in the eurozone for company tax.
The detailed report with country-by-country breakdowns can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/resources/documents/taxation/gen_info/economic_analysis/tax_structures/2013/report.pdf . (FG/transl.fl)