Assessing tax levels and the tax mix in OECD countries: Revenue Statistics 2014 and Consumption Tax Trends 2014 . | WPN World People News

Tax burdens and revenue collection across the OECD countries are reaching record levels not seen since before the global financial crisis. Nevertheless, the tax mix continues varying widely across the advanced economies.

How do tax levels compare across countries? What factors are driving the wide variation in tax burdens seen worldwide? Which taxes comprise the largest and smallest sources of revenue, on a country-by-country basis?

Three new OECD reports to be published on Wednesday 10 December 2014 provide internationally comparable statistics and analysis designed to inform the tax policy debate:

Revenue Statistics 2014 provides annual data on government tax revenues, including the tax to GDP ratio, revenues collected by central, state and regional governments, and the relative importance of personal and corporate income tax, social security contributions and taxes on goods and services in the tax mix.

Consumption Tax Trends 2014 provides a biennial look at Value Added Tax/Goods and Services Tax (VAT/GST) and excise duties in OECD member countries. It provides cross-country comparative data about the tax base, rates and implementation rules and looks at the application of VAT/GST to international trade.

The Distributional Effects of Consumption Taxes in OECD Countries examines who actually pays the VAT/GST and excise taxes imposed by governments, by presenting average household consumption tax burdens across both income and expenditure distributions. It also examines the effectiveness of reduced VAT/GST rates at redistributing income to households.

Source: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development