Portugal’s value-added tax (VAT) policy is a treasure trove of tax oddities. Thankfully, VAT base broadening is an ideal instrument to give the Portuguese government the fiscal room to implement pro-growth tax reforms
4 min read
A few European countries have made changes to their VAT rates, including the Czech Republic, Estonia, Switzerland, and Turkey.
3 min read
It is essential to understand that the taxation of capital gains places a double tax on corporate income.
5 min read
Like most regions around the world, European countries have experienced a decline in corporate income tax rates over the past four decades, but the average corporate income tax rate has leveled off in recent years.
2 min read
In such a determinant semester for Europe, principled tax policy can be an important tool for a more competitive European Union.
5 min read
Spain’s central government could learn some valuable lessons from its regional governments about sound tax policy.
7 min read
In the end, the best way for the EU to support Ukraine’s post-war recovery is to guarantee its tax sovereignty, not just its territorial sovereignty.
5 min read
The agreement represents a major change for tax competition, and many countries will be rethinking their tax policies for multinationals.
7 min read
What historical lessons of wartime finance can Ukrainian and EU policymakers learn to put Ukraine’s economy on a path to success during, and especially after, the war?
5 min read
A multilateral agreement that eliminates digital services taxes would be valuable, but not if it introduces more complexity and leaves unanswered many questions about the impacts on the U.S. tax base.
8 min read
The rules of tax competition are changing with the recent agreement on a global minimum tax and other changes to tax rules around the world, but that does not mean the contest is over.
5 min read
The EU Tax Observatory has taken an extreme view in assessing the global minimum tax. The rules were not meant to immediately reduce the stock of shifted profits or align profitability levels more closely with employment costs. The rules do change incentives for multinationals, but profits may continue to remain in low-tax jurisdictions for many years.
6 min read
While the European Commission focuses on improving VAT compliance, policy is a major contributor to VAT revenue losses. The VAT actionable policy gap is 15.65 percent, more than triple the compliance gap.
5 min read
Estonia has the most competitive individual tax system in the OECD for the 10th consecutive year.
2 min read
The 2023 version of the International Tax Competitiveness Index is the 10th edition of the report. Let’s take a look back and see how country ranks have changed over time.
5 min read
While existing carbon taxes are a step towards the right direction in addressing climate change and incentivizing reductions in emissions, there is considerable room for improvement to reach the ideal theoretical carbon tax model.
59 min read
According to the corporate tax component of the 2023 International Tax Competitiveness Index, Latvia and Estonia have the best corporate tax systems in the OECD.
2 min read
A harmonized EU tax base is a project in the making. Policymakers have a chance to put the Union on a path for increased investment and economic growth by focusing on the details of capital cost recovery.
7 min read
The variety of approaches to taxation among European countries creates a need to evaluate these systems relative to each other. For that purpose, we have developed the European Tax Policy Scorecard—a relative comparison of European countries’ tax systems.
52 min read
If the EU is going to harmonize its tax base, it should do so in a way that increases the efficiency and competitiveness of tax policy for the EU as a whole, and not just seek out the lowest common denominator.
5 min read