22nd September 2016

Tax Policy Reforms in OECD: Czech tax-to-GDP ratio increases between 2010 and 2014 | Summary of tax reforms

Recently published OECD report Tax Policy Reforms in the OECD provides overview of tax reforms that were implemented, legislated or announced in 2015, as well as common tax policy trends.

Austria, Belgium, Greece, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain took most comprehensive steps in 2015, says the report, adding that the largest changes in tax revenues between 2013 and 2014 were recorded in Denmark (3.3 percentage points explained by an increase in taxes on income and profits as a % of GDP). The largest revenue falls were recorded in Norway (1.4 percentage point due to a decline in taxes on income and profits) and the Czech Republic (0.8 percentage points due to a decline in taxes on goods and services). But most OECD countries, including the Czech Republic, have experienced an increase in their tax-to-GDP ratio between 2010 and 2014.

Estimated revenue effects of the tax reforms implemented, legislated and announced  in the Czech Republic in 2015:
- decreased tax revenue in the areas of personal income taxes, value=added tax
- increased tax revenues in the area of non-energy and excise duties

The Czech Republic increased its tax credit for second and other children and announced further increase for 2016 and 2017. As a measure to counter VAT fraud, the country extended reverse charge mechanism (i.e. shifting the obligation to declare and pay VAT from the supplier to the purchaser) in crops agriculture. The Czech Republic also introduced VAT control statements which request detailed information on the taxable supplies made and/or received in the country. Also, the country announced a VAT rate cut on restaurant services effective in December 2016, indirectly providing support to this sector. 

Read more details and view comparative data here (in English).

Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Czech Republic