The year 2019 was characterised by a slowdown in the pace of tax reforms in most major economies. This is the conclusion of an OECD report, published on Friday 6 September, which describes the main trends in tax policy in 39 countries.
“At a time when countries are facing many significant challenges... the appetite for growth-enhancing, structural tax reforms seem to be waning”, said Pascal Saint-Amans, Director of the OECD's Centre for Tax Policy and Administration.
The study shows that fewer countries have carried out major tax reforms in 2019 than in previous years. The most comprehensive tax reform was implemented in the Netherlands as part of its 2019 tax plan. Other significant tax changes have been introduced in Lithuania in the area of labour taxes, as well as in Italy and Poland on corporate income tax. In other countries, however, the tax reforms carried out in 2019 were less significant and often undertaken in a piecemeal fashion, according to the report.
The OECD also reports a further reduction in corporate tax rates, although less marked than in 2018 (see EUROPE 12089/2), as well as an increase in excise duties on the consumption of unhealthy products, such as tobacco and sweetened drinks.
On the other hand, it notes that the pace of environmental tax reforms has slowed and that several countries have lowered their energy taxes or weakened their commitment to better align energy taxation with the costs of climate change.
Digital taxation. In 2019, there was a strong focus on the tax challenges arising from digitisation, including within the OECD, where countries committed themselves to reaching an agreement on digital taxation in 2020 (see EUROPE 12272/3).
The report also points out that several countries have announced or implemented unilateral measures to this end, such as France, Austria, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Turkey.
See the study: http://bit.ly/2lAfIXe (Original version in French by Marion Fontana)