COMPARATIVE STUDY ON INDIRECT TAXES AT EU LEVEL

Abstract

The economic downturn, affecting lately the states all over the world, imposed their governments to take measures in fiscal and budget plan in order to reduce the budget deficit, by reducing spending and increasing the revenue mobilized to the budget, especially tax revenues, by increasing the tax burden both for the individuals and legal entities. Reforming the tax system at European level involved widening the tax base both for the income earned by individual taxpayers and those made by companies to the detriment of effective tax rates increase. The share in GDP of mandatory levies is uneven across the EU. In the year 2012, it range from 30% in Lithuania with 50% to Denmark. Fiscal consolidation in the member states aimed reforms in the field of indirect taxation (by increasing VAT- 1% for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Italy, Poland and Finland to 7% in Hungary with 5%, Romania, 4%, excise duties and environmental taxes) and a downward trend in the rate of taxation in the case of direct taxes through progressive taxation of personal income, which led to increased revenue due compulsory levies in most countries of the European Union. 13 EU countries have acted to increase the VAT rate between 2010-2014.

Keywords

• tax burden
• tax system
• tax revenue
• indirect taxes