The OECD’s latest international comparison of taxes rates Australia as the eighth lowest taxed country among its 30 industrialised country members.
With a tax burden of 31.6 per cent of the economy, Australia is considerably below the average of 36.3 per cent for all OECD countries.
The seven countries with a lower tax take included Mexico (19 per cent), Japan (25.3 per cent), Korea (25.3 per cent), United States (25.6 per cent), Switzerland (29.5 per cent), Ireland (29.7 per cent) and the Slovak Republic (31.1 per cent).
The slight increase in Australia’s tax burden between 2002-03 and 2003-04 was more than fully accounted for by an increase in state taxes. State taxes increased from 8.9 per cent of GDP to 9.2 per cent of GDP, whereas the aggregate measured tax increased from 31.4 per cent to 31.6 per cent. The Australian Government’s share of total revenue remained unchanged at 21.5 per cent of GDP.
The OECD publishes Revenue Statistics annually to provide internationally comparable data on tax levels and structures. The publication includes tax revenue from all three tiers of government.
Due to the differences in financial years between countries, the information in the report referring to 2003 covers Australia’s fiscal year 2003-04. The OECD publication is also prepared on an accruals basis.