OECD's annual Revenue Statistics 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...

At its session on 1 December, the Government's Council for coordination of fight against corruption reviewed a number of documents. The measures include...

OECD's recently published Pensions at a Glance 2015 report says that about half of OECD countries have taken measures in the past two years to make their systems more affordable in the long term. A third have made efforts to strengthen safety nets and help some vulnerable groups of pensioners. The report also highlights the challenge of the current low-growth, low-interest rate environment for savers and financial service providers offering life insurance and annuities. In addition, the mortality tables used by insurers in many countries do not take fully into account projected improvemetns in life expectancy. Read details about the Czech Republic...

The Czech Government decided today that Minister of Industry and Trade Jan Mládek will not support a joint initiative of 

seven Central European states against the expansion of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline...