Ireland Had EU's Lowest Tax-To-GDP Burden In 2018: Eurostat

by Ulrika Lomas, Tax-News.com, Brussels

15 November 2019

The overall tax burden in the European Union relative to GDP rose slightly in 2018, to 40.3 percent, Eurostat has announced, with France levying the highest burden.

This was up nominally from 40.2 percent in 2017. The tax burden is higher for euro area states, at 41.7 percent of GDP.

In the EU, taxes on production and imports accounted for 13.6 percent of GDP, while taxes on income and wealth accounted for 13.2 percent of GDP.

Eurostat said that the tax-to-GDP ratio varied significantly between member states in 2018, with the highest share of taxes and social contributions as a percentage of GDP being recorded in France (48.4 percent), Belgium (47.2 percent), and Denmark (45.9 percent). These countries were followed by Sweden (44.4 percent), Austria (42.8 percent), Finland (42.4 percent), and Italy (42 percent).

At the other end of the scale, Ireland had the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio, at 23 percent. After Ireland, Romania (27.1 percent), Bulgaria (29.9 percent), Lithuania (30.5 percent), and Latvia (31.4 percent) registered the next lowest burdens.

The tax burden rose in sixteen member states in 2018, with the largest rises being seen in Luxembourg (from 39.1 percent in 2017 to 40.7 percent in 2018), Romania (25.8 percent to 27.1 percent), and Poland (35 percent to 36.1 percent).

Decreases were recorded in seven member states, with Denmark seeing the greatest drop in its burden (from 46.8 percent to 45.9 percent), followed by Hungary (38.4 percent to 37.6 percent) and Finland (43.1 percent to 42.4 percent).

In 2018, the share of taxes on production and imports was highest in Sweden, Croatia, and Hungary, and lowest in Ireland, Romania, and Germany. For taxes related to income and wealth, the highest burden was in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Romania, Lithuania, and Bulgaria recorded the lowest shares for taxes on income and wealth.

TAGS: tax | value added tax (VAT) | Belgium | Denmark | Hungary | Ireland | corporation tax | Bulgaria | Latvia | Luxembourg | Romania | Austria | Finland | France | Germany | Italy | Poland | Sweden | revenue statistics | individual income tax | European Union (EU) | Croatia | Lithuania | Europe

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