The OECD’s annual publication Revenue Statistics was published on 3 December 2015. The publication shows that since the financial crisis corporate tax revenues have been falling in the OECD countries. The statistics show that corporate income tax revenues decreased from 3.6% to 2.8% of GDP between 2007 and 2014.
In the same period more tax has been collected from individuals in the form of individual income tax, social security contributions and value added tax. Revenue collected from individual income tax increased from 8.8% to 8.9% between 2007 and 2014. Revenue from value added tax (VAT) increased from 6.5% to 6.8% in the same period.
The average tax burden in OECD countries increased to 34.4% of GDP in 2014. The average tax burden, measured by looking at total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, has increased each year since 2009. These increases are caused in part by increased tax rates and broadened tax bases; and tax collected is also increased by the effect of progressive tax rates and rising incomes.
The largest increases in tax ratios occurred in Denmark where the tax to GDP ratio increased by 3.3 percentage points and in Iceland where the ratio increased by 2.8 percentage points. Denmark had the highest tax to GDP ratio in the OECD at 50.9% in 2014. France had a tax to GDP ratio of 45.2% and in Belgium the ratio was 44.7%.
