OECD: Portugal is one of the countries where the tax burden has risen the most since 1965

  • ECO News
  • 5 December 2019

New OECD data show that Portugal is one of the countries where the tax burden has risen the most since 1965. Greece and Spain are the countries with the highest increases. Ireland shows a fall.

The tax burden in Portugal rose from 15.7% of GDP to 35.7% of GDP between 1965 and 2018, according to new statistics published Thursday by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which show that only Greece and Spain showed higher growths.

In Greece and Spain, the tax burden increased by 21.6 and 20.1 percentage points over this 53-year period, up from 19.7 points in Portugal.

According to the OECD, only one of the observed countries shows a decline in the share of taxes in the economy. In Ireland, the tax burden as a percentage of GDP fell by 2.2 points to 22.3%. The United States ranks second with the lowest increase in the tax burden (0.8%).

In the USA, the tax burden is among the lowest among the 36 countries analysed, at 24.3%, only above that recorded in Ireland, Chile and Mexico. At the other end of the scale are France (46.1%), Denmark and Belgium, both close to 45%. Greece, where the tax burden has risen the most, is in 11th place in the ranking, ahead of Germany, with Portugal in 16th.

The tax burden has been one of the most controversial issues in Portugal. The indicator has shown record levels, which the Government fits in with the tax revenue and social contributions obtained with the growth of the economy and the greater dynamism of the labour market.

In the State Budget for next year, the Government wants to increase the IRS deduction with children and change the tax benefits.