Brussels, 22/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - The overall tax burden represented 39.8% of GDP in the EU27 in 2007, that is, a slight rise compared to 39.7% recorded in 2006, reveals a report published on Monday 22 June by Eurostat and DG Taxation and Customs Union of the European Commission. This percentage, which was 40.6% in 2000, fell to 38.9% in 2004, before beginning to rise again. In the eurozone, evolution is similar to that in the EU as a whole, but at a slightly higher level. In 2007, the overall eurozone tax burden was 40.4% of GDP, up slightly compared to 40.3% in 2006. Compared to the rest of the world, tax pressure remains generally high in the EU, exceeding that of the United States and Japan by some 12 percentage points. The tax burden nonetheless varies significantly from one member state to the next, from below 30% in Romania and Slovakia (29.4% each), as well as in Lithuania (29.9%) to almost 50% in Denmark (48.7%) and Sweden (48.3%). Since 2000, major variations in the tax ratio compared to GDP have taken place in several member states. The largest drops were recorded in Slovakia, where overall tax ratio went from 34.1% in 2000 to 29.4% in 2007, and in Finland (47.2% to 43.0%). The biggest increases were noted in Cyprus (from 30.0% to 41.6%) and Malta (from 28.2% to 34.7%).
The maximum rate of taxation on the income of natural persons varies greatly within the EU. In 2008, the maximum rates on income of natural persons was highest in Denmark (59.0%), Sweden (56.4%) and Belgium (53.7%), and the lowest in Bulgaria (10.0%), the Czech Republic (15.0%) and Romania (16.0%). Concerning corporate revenue, the legal rates of taxation were the highest in 2009 in Malta (35.0%), France (34.4%), as well as in Belgium (34.0%), and the lowest were in Bulgaria and Cyprus (10.0% each), as well as in Ireland (12.5%).
Energy taxation includes taxes on energy products, such as mineral oils, gas and electricity, intended for transport and fixed application. They are by far the most important environmental taxes in that they represent about three quarters of the EU's environmental tax receipts. In 2007, energy taxes rose to 1.8% of GDP in the EU27 and ranged from 1.2% of GDP in Greece and Ireland to 3.0% in Bulgaria. Entitled “Taxation Trends in the European Union”, the report is available at the following internet site: http://www.ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/taxation/gen_info/economic_analysis/tax_structures/index_en.htm . (A.B./transl.jl)