According to the report, in 2003, the overall tax burden of the EU25 stood at 40.3% of GDP. However, tax burdens varied significantly between member states, ranging from 28.5% in Lithuania and 28.9% in Latvia to 50.8% in Sweden and 48.8% in Denmark.

Broken down by economic function (labour, capital and consumption), labour taxes were the largest source of tax revenue, contributing in 2003 around half of total tax receipts in the EU25 as a whole. Taxes on capital accounted for approximately 20% of total tax receipts, while consumption taxes accounted for almost 30%.

The report also noted wide variations in implicit (average effective tax rates) between member states. The average implicit tax rate on labour in the EU25 was 35.9% in 2003, and has remained relatively stable since 1995. Among the member states, rates ranged in 2003 from 22.4% in Malta, 24.4% in Cyprus and 24.6% in the United Kingdom to 46.1% in Sweden, 43.3% in France and 43.2% in Belgium.

The average implicit tax rate on capital in the EU25 increased steadily from 23.2% in 1995 to 27.8% in 1999, then fell to reach 25.4% in 2003 as corporate tax rates fell and tax bases were broadened.

The average implicit tax rate on consumption in the EU25 was 22.0% in 2003, a figure that has remained relatively stable over the last ten years. Consumption was most taxed in Denmark (33.9%), Sweden (30.5%) and Hungary (28.5%). Malta (16.1%), Spain (16.5%) and Italy (17.0%), on the other hand, registered the lowest implicit tax rates.

Top rates of personal income tax were generally to be found in the new intake of member states, located mainly in Central and Eastern Europe.

In 2005, the top statutory personal income tax rate in the EU25 is on average 41.1%. Amongst the member states, the highest top statutory personal income tax rates are found in Denmark (59.0%), Sweden (56.5%), Finland (52.1%) and the Netherlands (52.0%), and the lowest in Slovakia (19.0%), Estonia (24.0%), Latvia (25.0%) and Cyprus (30.0%).

The average effective top statutory tax rate on corporate income in the EU25 in 2005 is 26.3%. The highest effective top statutory tax rates on corporate income are recorded in Germany (38.6%), Italy (37.3%), Spain and Malta (both 35.0%), and the lowest in Cyprus (10.0%), Ireland (12.5%), Latvia and Lithuania (both 15.0%).