HC Deb 13 July 1983 vol 45 cc387-8W
Mr. Stuart Holland

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the share of indirect taxes, direct taxes on corporations, direct tax on households, social security taxes and value added tax as a percentage of total taxation in each year since 1977 in the following countries, Sweden, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, West Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan and Norway.

Mr. Lawson

[pursuant to the reply, 11 July 1983, c. 252]: The latest available information for the overseas countries listed, with the exception of Denmark, is given in table 4 of the article "International comparisons of taxes and social security contributions in 18 OECD countries, 1970–1980", in the December 1982 edition of Economic Trends. A copy is available in the Library. In the article, direct taxes are described as taxes on income, and indirect taxes as taxes on expenditure.

For the United Kingdom, the percentages given in the article are unchanged up to 1979 but there have been some revisions to the underlying data for 1980 since the article was prepared. The revised percentages, together with provisional estimates for 1981 and 1982, are given in the following table:

Percentages of total taxes and social security contributions
United Kingdom 1980 1981 1982
Taxes on income:
paid by households 31.2 30.2 29.6
paid by corporations 8.2 9.2 10.0
Taxes on expenditure 43.1 43.2 43.0
of which VAT 14.0 13.1 13.3
Taxes on capital 0.5 0.8 0.6
Social security contributions 17.0 16.7 16.9
of which paid by employers 10.2 9.4 8.9

For Denmark, comparable figures are not available. But figures compiled on a different basis are available from another OECD publication up to 1980 and percentages based on this information are given in the following table:

Percentages of total tax revenue
Denmark 1977 1978 1979 1980
Taxes on income:
on individuals 52.0 51.2 50.6 51.4
on corporations 3.1 3.1 3.1 3.2
Taxes on goods and services* 43.0 43.8 44.3 43.0
of which VAT 19.1 21.2 22.2 22.2
Taxes on capital 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.4
Social security contributions 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.8
of which employers' contributions 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.8
Other taxes 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
*Including recurrent taxes on immovable property and wealth, and taxes on financial and capital transactions.

Source: Revenue Statistics of OECD Member Countries 1965–1981.