OECD's Revenue Statistics 2015 published on 3 December shows that the average OECD tax-to-GDP ratio in 2014 was 0.3 percentage points higher than the pre-crisis level of 34.1% in 2007, and has surpassed the previous high of 34.2%, which was recorded in 2000. The average revenues from corporate incomes and gains fell from 3.6% to 2.8% of GDP over the same period. This decline was offset by an increase in social security contributions, from 8.5% to 9.2% of GDP, and a smaller increase in revenues from VAT. Compared with 2013, the largest falls of tax-to-GDP ratio were in Norway (1.4 percentage points) and Czech Republic (0.8 percentage points due to a decline in taxes on goods and services). Luxembourg and Turkey showed falls of 0.6 percentage points.

In 2014, total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP was estimated at 33.5% and taxes on income and profits amounted to 7.1% of GDP. In 2013, the share of personal income tax on total tax revenues ranged from 10% and 11% in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, respectively, to 35% in Australia and 55% in Denmark. The share of social security contributions amounted to 44-43% in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In contrast, Australia and New Zealand do not have social security contributions. In the Czech Republic, the share of central government receipts in 2013 was 55.2% of total tax receipts, whereas the local government share reached 1%. Click here to view results for the Czech Republic.

It should be noted that the results were affected to a certain extent by the revision of the European System of National Accounts.

Read the press release.