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Total tax revenue
Total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP indicates the share of a country’s output that is collected by the government through taxes. It can thus be regarded as one measure of the degree to which the government controls the economy’s resources. Taxes on incomes and profits as a percentage of GDP represents the amount of resources collected by government directly from the incomes of people and companies. Taxes on goods and services as a percentage of GDP represents the amount of resources the government collects from people as they spend their income on goods and services.
Definition
Taxes are defined as compulsory, unrequited payments to general government. They are unrequited in the sense that benefits provided by government to taxpayers are not normally in proportion to their payments.
Taxes on incomes and profits cover taxes levied on the net income or profits (gross income minus allowable tax reliefs) of individuals and enterprises. They also cover taxes levied on the capital gains of individuals and enterprises, and gains from gambling.
Taxes on goods and services covers all taxes levied on the production, extraction, sale, transfer, leasing or delivery of goods, and the rendering of services, or on the use of goods or permission to use goods or to perform activities. They consist mainly of value added and sales taxes.
Note that the sum of taxes on goods and services and taxes on income and profits do not equal total tax revenues, which also includes payments by employers and employees made under compulsory social security schemes as well as payroll taxes, taxes related to the ownership and transfer of property, and other taxes.
Comparability
The data are collected in a way that makes them as internationally comparable as possible. Country representatives have agreed on the definition of each type of tax and how they should be measured in all OECD countries, and they are then responsible for submitting data that conform to these rules. The rules are set out in "The OECD Interpretative Guide” at the end of each edition of Revenue Statistics.
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Long-term trends Total tax revenue as a percentage of GDP followed a slow upward trend in almost all OECD countries during the 1990s. However, in 2000, the upward trend stopped, and, since 2001, the average tax revenues as a percentage of GDP for OECD countries have declined slightly. Taxes on income and profit as a percentage of GDP showed no overall trend in the first half of the 1990s. However, from 1996, there was an upward trend in most countries until 2000, after which it has fallen back. Taxes on goods and services as a percentage of GDP have been remarkably stable since 1992. There was a slight upward trend in the first half of the 1990s, followed by a stabilisation. |
Source
- OECD (2005), Revenue Statistics 1965-2004 – 2005 Edition, OECD, Paris.
Further information
Analytical publications
- OECD (2004), Recent Tax Policy Trends and Reforms in OECD Countries, OECD Tax Policy Studies, No. 9, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2005), Consumption Tax Trends: VAT/GST and Excise rates, Trends and Administration Issues, 2005 Edition, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2006), The Political Economy of Environmentally Related Taxes, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2006), OECD Tax Policy Studies – N.15 Encouraging Savings through Tax-Preferred Accounts, OECD, Paris.
Statistical publications
- OECD (2006), Taxing Wages: 2004/2005 – 2005 Edition, OECD, Paris.
Methodological publications
- Electronic Model Tax Convention (eMTC), www.sourceoecd.org/reference/modeltax.
- OECD (1992-2005), Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, yearly updates, OECD, Paris.
- OECD (2005), Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital Model Tax Convention on Income and on Capital, condensed version, OECD, Paris.
Online databases
Websites
- Tax Administration in OECD Countries: Comparative Information Series (2004), www.oecd.org/ctp/ta.
- OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration, www.oecd.org/ctp.
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| • | Indicator web page |
| • | Indicator in PDF |
| Tables (xls) | |
| • | Total tax revenue |
| • | Taxes on income and profits |
| • | Taxes on goods and services |
| Graphics | |
| • | Total tax revenue |
| • | Taxes on income and profits |
| • | Taxes on goods and services |
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