OECD: Britain’s tax burden is greater than peer average and up since 1995
BRITAIN’S tax burden has increased since 1995 and is higher than that of many peer countries, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed yesterday.
Overall taxes, as a proportion of GDP, exceeded the 34.8 per cent OECD average in 2008, despite falling in recent years.
Some countries have reduced their tax burden since 1995, such as New Zealand, Ireland, Canada and the US.
And even high tax countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, have reduced taxes. But in the UK the burden increased by around 1.5 per cent.
Tax Freedom Day – the day until which all revenue effectively funds the government – fell on 30 May this year, according to the Adam Smith Institute.
And allowing for government borrowing, the state consumes 187 days’ worth of incomes every year, they said.
In recent years tax revenues have fallen in most countries, due to the economic slowdown, and tax reductions designed to cushion the effects of recession, the report said.