New data on Tax Revenues in 2022 confirms a positive momentum for capital taxes

The Data on Taxation Trends released today show that nominal tax revenues in the EU reached a record value in 2022. Member States collected EUR 6,388 billion in taxes in 2022(1), an 8.0% hike compared to 2021. Looking into the breakdown by economic function, revenues from capital taxes increased by 12.5%, on the back of mounting businesses’ profits. Revenues from consumption taxes grew by 6.9%, supported by expanding expenditure on private consumption and higher inflation. Finally, revenues from labour taxes rose by 6.8% upheld by continued employment growth. The overall tax-mix showed the following distribution in 2022: 50.6% of total tax revenues come from taxes on labour including social security contributions (0.6 pp less than in 2021), 27.3% from taxes on consumption (down by 0.3 pp), and the remaining 22.1% from taxes on capital (up by 0.9 pp). 

Despite the increase in nominal terms, average tax burden in the EU decreased slightly in 2022. Evolution in the average tax burden captures the evolution of tax revenues compared to the evolution of the overall economy, being measured by the tax-to-GDP ratio. After reaching its historic high in 2021 (40.4% of GDP), it decreased slightly to 40.2% in 2022. The tax burden differs significantly across Member States, with France (46.2%) at the top, followed by Belgium, Austria and Finland all of them above 43% of GDP. By contrast, Ireland had the lowest ratio (20.9% of GDP). 

Data on Taxation Trends is produced annually by the Directorate General for Taxation and Customs Union (DG TAXUD) in cooperation with the Expert Group on the Structures of Taxation Systems, composed of experts from the national finance ministries and chaired by DG Taxation and Customs Union. It contains statistical information on tax revenue data by economic function, type of tax, level of government and implicit tax rates. Data on Taxation Trends feed into the 2024 Annual Report on Taxation, to be published in June 2024. The Commission services bear sole responsibility for this publication and its content.