This paper examines varies areas of India´s fiscal policy, in particular fiscal discipline, the structure of government spending, the tax system and fiscal federalism. It describes reforms over the past decades which, as part of the overall economic reform agenda, helped lifting the Indian...

France belongs to the group of OECD countries with relatively high tax levels. In recent years French governments have been increasingly aware that the tax system may have negative effects on growth and employment and some reforms have been introduced to reduce tax distortions. There has,...

This paper examines various aspects of fiscal policy in Slovenia, in particular fiscal consolidation, pension reform, efficiency of government spending and the tax system. It finds that Slovenia belongs to the group of new EU member countries, which have given in the past a high priority to...

For many years Greece has not made a systematic effort to redesign the whole tax system. Changes to taxation have been made in a piecemeal fashion, and many of them have led to a complex and non-transparent system, characterised by narrow bases and fairly high rates. There has also been a...

The Portuguese tax system has developed positively in the past decade. Following the 1989 tax reform, tax bases have been broadened and statutory tax rates lowered. The overall tax burden is not high by international comparison and the tax mix relies on the more neutral consumption taxes....

Tax reform is an urgent priority, as Japan needs as much as 5% to 6% of GDP of additional government revenue just to stabilise public debt, which has risen to 180% of GDP. In addition to raising revenue, tax reform should promote economic growth, address the deterioration in income distribution...

This paper considers the case for adjusting measures of the cyclically-adjusted fiscal balance for exceptional movements in the terms of trade for those countries where production of commodities is a substantial share of output. For such countries exceptional movements in commodity prices, such...

The tax-to-GDP ratio rose steadily in most EU countries up to the late 1990s, largely reflecting a sustained expansion of public sector commitments to welfare provision. Since the late 1990s, many EU countries have cut tax rates. However, the tax burden in the EU area remains much higher than in...

The tax burden in Korea is among the lowest in the OECD area, mainly reflecting that the social safety net is at an early stage of development. The low tax burden implies limited tax induced economic distortions but as expenditure pressures will mount in the future, neutrality and efficiency of...

There have been a number of tax reforms in Switzerland in recent years aimed at enhancing economic efficiency and equity. This paper sets these reforms in the context of the forces shaping tax policy in Switzerland and the main features of the Swiss tax system and suggests areas where further...