OECD suggests tax revenues 'have reached a plateau'

10 Dec 2019

In a new report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has suggested that tax revenues in advanced economies have 'reached a plateau'.

The OECD stated that the plateau has ended the trend of annual increases in the tax-to-GDP ratio experienced during the 2008 financial crisis. The tax-to-GDP ratio amounted to 34.3% in 2018 – almost unchanged since 2017, when a figure of 34.2% was recorded.

Decreases in tax revenues were experienced across a handful of countries, including Hungary and Israel. A further 19 OECD countries reported increased tax-to-GDP ratios in 2018, including Korea and Luxembourg.

France, Denmark, Belgium and Sweden had tax-to-GDP ratios above 43%, whilst Mexico, Chile, Ireland, the US and Turkey recorded ratios under 25%. The UK's ratio totalled 33.5%.

The report also revealed that corporate tax revenues continued to increase, rising to 9.3% of total tax revenues across the OECD. This marks the first time corporate income tax revenues have exceeded 9% of total tax revenues since 2008.

The OECD's full report can be found here.