Eurostat, the European Statistical Office of the European Union and the EC´s Directorate-General for Taxation and Customs Union issued the publication „Taxation trends in the EU“. This publication informed that the overall tax-to-GDP ratio (the sum of taes and social contributions in % of GDP) stood at 38.8% in 2011, compared to 38.3% in 2010. The overall tax burden increased also in the euro area – from 39.0% in 2010 to 39.5% in 2011.

The countries with the highest tax burdens are Denmark (47.7%), Sweden (44.3%), Belgium (44.1%) and France (43.9%). On the other hand, the citizens of Lithuania (26.0%), Bulgaria (27.2%), Latvia (27.6%) and Romania (28.2%) pay the lowest taxes and social contributions.

The average top personal income tax rate in the EU27 is 38.3% in 2013 and the highest top personal income rates are observed in Sweden (56.6%), Denmark (55.6%) and Belgium (53.7%) and the lowest top income rates are recorded in Bulgaria (10.0%), Lithuania (15.0%) and Hungary and Romania (both 16.0%). The average top corporate tax rate in the EU27 is 23.5% in 2013, slightly higher than in 2012.

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