Malta records highest tax increase

Malta has recorded the highest tax increase as a percentage of GDP amongst EU countries, The Irish Examiner reports

Irelands’S tax take as a percentage of GDP recorded the second highest increase in the EU last year but remains one of the lowest for overall tax take, according to new figures. The increase bucks the trend in the EU overall, where the tax take fell from an average of 40.9% in 2003 to 40.7% last year. The trend in the eurozone was similar.

The highest increases in tax-to-GDP ratio were Malta (from 34.5% in 2003 to 36.7% in 2004) and Ireland (from 30.4% to 31.7%). But Ireland still has one of the lowest overall tax takes in the EU at 31.7%, only trailing Slovakia, Latvia and the lowest, Lithuania, at 28%. Tax revenue was as high as 51% in Sweden, taking into account the three main categories of tax; production and imports such as VAT and excise; income and wealth; and social contributions.