Taxation: Report shows increased tax revenue for 2019 (40,1%) but expected to decrease in 2020, 2021

The Commission has today published the 2021 Taxation Trends Report, a yearly snapshot of tax systems in the EU, Iceland and Norway. The report offers a breakdown of tax levels in the EU and provides extensive and comparable data on different tax structures and rates in Member States, as well as an estimation of the tax revenue for the coming years (2020-2022), taking into account the impact of COVID-19. In addition, the report presents the latest tax reforms in each country. According to the report, tax revenue in the EU stood at 40.1 % of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019, 6.3 percentage points above the OECD average (33.8 %) and more than 15 percentage points above the United States. The latest data confirm the development towards lower rates on corporate taxation (nominal and effective) – although at a very slow pace – while revenues from corporate income stagnated in 2019 after several years of sustained growth, which stopped in 2017. This report analyses the possible impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on future public finances. According to the latest forecast (spring 2021), tax revenue in the EU is expected to have decreased in 2020, but less than GDP. Therefore, the tax-to-GDP ratio would have increased in 2020 but it will fall significantly in 2021, with further decreases in 2022. Finally, as tax measures have been and can be part of recovery packages, the report offers a wealth of data for evidence-based policy analysis and development. The Tax Trends report also contains data on energy, environmental and property taxation, plus rates for personal and corporate income taxes. The report can be found online.