NO.088

OECD RATES AUSTRALIA AS EIGHTH LOWEST TAXED COUNTRY

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.

12 October 2005

CANBERRA

Contact: Amanda Kennedy

02 6277 7340