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News & Events
News
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11-Jun-2008
Canada has a long history of tax reform and has been actively cutting taxes since the late 1990s against a background of general government surpluses. The resulting gains in business tax competitiveness are expected to raise investment and attract foreign capital. A flatter personal income tax structure, along with better targeting of tax reliefs, has generally improved work incentives and helped to boost female labour force participation
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03-Jun-2008
The 2008 Finland Country Survey argues that globalisation, including the increased mobility of jobs, will continue to put pressure on the Finnish tax base. In order to address this, the Survey recommends that Finland change the mix of taxation, with a reduced burden on labour (especially highly-skilled labour) and an increased burden on immobile factors such as land.
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25-Apr-2008
A reform package enacted in 2007 introduced notably flat tax in personal incomes and fees for certain medical services. This chapter takes stock of the package and the many further plans aimed at addressing long term fiscal sustainability.
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17-Apr-2008
While Chile’s tax system is not particularly burdensome to business formality, there is scope for making product-market regulations less onerous to firms and the labour code more flexible, especially with regards to indefinite contracts and the allocation of working time. Low human capital remains an important obstacle to reducing labour informality. To the extent that informal businesses also hire informally, there is some room for designing policies to tackle business informality in conjunction with those aimed at boosting formal labour contracting.
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16-Apr-2008
After many years of sustained growth, the housing market has slowed: house prices are falling and there has been a sharp reduction in the number of new homes being built. The exceptional rise in property values in recent years was largely driven by higher income and demographics, but did appear to overshoot the sustainable level. House prices may ease further and could even fall below their long-run value. Residential investment is experiencing a sharp slowdown. This will have some effect on wider economic activity.
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16-Apr-2008
Softening economic growth and the slowdown in the housing market mark a turning point for fiscal policy. Strong revenue growth in earlier years financed a sustained expansion of government spending and some cuts in tax rates, while still allowing the government to run a substantial fiscal surplus. This left the public finances in a healthy state with net government debt declining to a very low level. But this benign picture is changing as growth slows and tax receipts increase more slowly. Public spending growth needs to slow.
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09-Apr-2008
Government finances have improved significantly over the past years on account of both cyclically higher revenues and structural expenditure restraint. In order to preserve these achievements for the longer term, the government should consider replacing the fiscal rule currently enshrined in the constitution, which has proved to be ineffective in preventing an increase in the debt level. Safeguarding future tax receipts is also a challenge and the implemented corporate tax reform will be helpful in this respect.
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19-Feb-2008
Four out of ten full-time employed face a marginal tax wedge of more than 70% resulting from labour contributions plus income and consumption taxes combined. Tax reform could mitigate an ageing-related decline in hours worked, and contribute to fiscal sustainability, this report argues. But it requires that cuts focus on the worst distortions and are appropriately financed.
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19-Feb-2008
The Danish pension system is well-developed and almost unique in the OECD. This report suggests that there may be scope to increase choice and flexibility in the pension system. However, the key policy challenge is to reform capital taxation outside pension savings.
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Taxing Wages 2002/2003
Revenue statistics 1965-2001
