Consumption Tax Trends: Vat/gst And Excise Rates, Trends And Administration Issues

« Consumption฀Tax฀ Trends ฀ AT/GST฀AND฀EXCISE฀RATES,฀ V TRENDS฀AND฀ADMINISTRATION฀ ISSUES฀ 2006 Consumption Tax Trends VAT/GST AND EXCISE RATES, TRENDS AND ADMINISTRATION ISSUES 2006 Edition ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT The OECD is a unique forum where the governments of 30 democracies work together to address the economic, social and environmental challenges of globalisation. The OECD is also at the forefront of efforts to understand and to help governments respond to new developments and concerns, such as corporate governance, the information economy and the challenges of an ageing population. The Organisation provides a setting where governments can compare policy experiences, seek answers to common problems, identify good practice and work to co-ordinate domestic and international policies. The OECD member countries are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Commission of the European Communities takes part in the work of the OECD. OECD Publishing disseminates widely the results of the Organisation’s statistics gathering and research on economic, social and environmental issues, as well as the conventions, guidelines and standards agreed by its members. This work is published on the responsibility of the Secretary-General of the OECD. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. Also available in French under the title: Tendances des impôts sur la consommation TVA/TPS et droits d’accise : taux, tendances et questions d’administration © OECD 2006 No reproduction, copy, transmission or translation of this publication may be made without written permission. Applications should be sent to OECD Publishing: [email protected] or by fax (33 1) 45 24 13 91. Permission to photocopy a portion of this work should be addressed to the Centre français d'exploitation du droit de copie, 20, rue des Grands-Augustins, 75006 Paris, France ([email protected]). FOREWORD Foreword T his publication is the sixth in the series Consumption Tax Trends. It presents information relative to indirect taxes in OECD member countries, as at 1 January, 2005. This biennial publication illustrates the evolution of consumption taxes as revenue instruments. They now account for 30 per cent of total tax revenues in OECD member countries. It identifies the large number of differences that exist in respect of the consumption tax base, rates and implementation rules while highlighting the features underlying their development. It also notes recent developments in the Value Added Tax/Goods and Services Tax area. This edition’s special features highlight aspects of developments in international issues on taxation of services and intangibles under general consumption taxes and on emerging trends in the VAT treatment of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs), including the measures taken by governments to reduce compliance burdens and improve tax administration efficiency. CONSUMPTION TAX TRENDS – ISBN 92-64-01417-9 – © OECD 2006 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents Introduction ...............................................