Tax revenues in Greece, as a percentage of GDP, skyrocketed in 2016 and reached at least a 30-year high, with the rate of tax revenue hikes the highest among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member-states during the previous year.
The tax rate in Greece as a percentage of GDP is among the “top 10” for OECD member-states (10th), in league with Europe’s most advanced – and economically healthy – countries. Denmark, for instance, is in first place in terms of tax revenues as a percentage of GDP.
As far as recession-battered and debt-laden Greece is concerned, the specific index reached 38.56 percent in 2016, roughly four percentage points higher than the OECD average for the specific measurement, which not only calculates the level of tax rates, but the state’s ability to collect tax revenues.
As such, Greece’s 10th-place showing may not fully reveal the breadth of tax rates, but also hint at still inefficient tax collection, compared with other more advanced countries, both in Europe and beyond.
The increase in the ratio between tax revenues and GDP has been impressive during the bailout era in Greece (2010-current), with the figure in 2010 at 32 percent, only reach 38.56 percent last year – which coincided with a “tax tsunami” implemented by the leftist-rightist coalition government to meet memorandum-mandated fiscal targets – especially budget surplus targets as a percentage of GDP.
