(16 June 2014) – The largest source of tax revenue in the EU28 is labour taxes, representing more than half of total tax receipts in 2012 (51.0%), followed by consumption taxes (28.5%) and taxes on capital (20.8%).
The overall tax-to-GDP ratio, meaning the sum of taxes and compulsory social contributions in % of GDP, in the EU28 stood at 39.4% in 2012, up from 38.8% in 2011.
The tax burden varies significantly between Member States, ranging in 2012 from less than 30% of GDP in Lithuania (27.2%), Bulgaria and Latvia (both 27.9%), Romania and Slovakia (both 28.3%) and Ireland (28.7%), to more than 40% of GDP in Denmark (48.1%), Belgium (45.4%), France (45.0%), Sweden (44.2%), Finland (44.1%), Italy (44.0%) and Austria (43.1%).
Labour taxes were the largest source of tax revenue in 2012 in twenty four Member States, and in thirteen Member States they accounted for more than half of total tax revenue. The highest shares of taxation from labour were observed in Sweden (58.6%), the Netherlands (57.5%), Austria (57.4%) and Germany (56.6%). Only in Bulgaria (32.9%), Malta (34.6%), Cyprus (37.1%) and the United Kingdom (38.9%) was the share below 40%.
Consumption taxes were the largest source of tax revenue in 2012 in four Member States: Bulgaria, Croatia, Malta and Romania. The highest shares of taxation from consumption were recorded in Bulgaria (53.3%), Croatia (49.1%) and Romania (45.1%), and the lowest in Belgium (23.7%), France and Italy (both 24.7%).
Taxes on capital accounted for the smallest share of tax revenue in all Member States in 2012. Shares of more than 25% were registered in Luxembourg (27.5%), the United Kingdom (27.4%), Malta (26.6%) and Cyprus (26.1%), and of less than 10% in Estonia (7.1%) and Slovenia (9.8%).