This is the fifteenth edition of Consumption Tax Trends, a biennial OECD publication. It presents cross-country comparative data on consumption taxes in OECD member countries, as of 1 January 2024.
Tables using data from the National Accounts and data on tax revenue from Revenue Statistics 2024 are updated up to and including 2022. The country data for this publication have, for the most part, been provided by delegates to the Committee on Fiscal Affairs’ Working Party N°9 on Consumption Taxes.
The exchange rates used to convert national currencies into US dollars (USD) are average market rates for 2023 taken from the OECD Monetary and Financial Statistics, except for Annex Tables 2.A.5 and 2.A.9 where Purchase Power Parity (PPP) rates for GDP (2023) are used as they provide for a better comparison of the value of VAT relief thresholds. These exchange rates are available in Annex B to this publication.
This publication illustrates the evolution of consumption taxes as instruments for raising tax revenue and often also to pursue distributional objectives, support business activity and influence customer behaviour. It identifies and documents the large number of variations in the design and implementation of consumption tax regimes across OECD countries, including in respect of tax bases and rates.
Chapter 1 presents internationally comparable data on consumption tax revenues of OECD countries in 1965-2022. It also includes an overview of the main design features of value added taxes, retail sales taxes and excise duties. Chapter 2 describes the evolution of the key features of VAT regimes in OECD countries, including rates, exemptions, restrictions to input tax deduction, registration and collection thresholds, margin schemes, and the application of VAT to digital trade. It also considers evolutions in countries’ strategies to counter VAT fraud and to enhance VAT compliance, including through digital reporting requirements and administrative co-operation in VAT matters. Chapter 3 describes the main features of excise duties and their growing use as a tool to impact customer behaviour. It shows the detailed excise tax rates on beer, wine, alcoholic beverages and tobacco in OECD countries. Chapter 4 describes the main features of vehicle taxes and their use for influencing customer behaviour. It provides detailed information on taxes on sale and registration of vehicles and on recurrent taxes on their use. It finally provides information on the taxation of aviation fuels in OECD countries.
This publication was prepared under the auspices of the Working Party N°9 on Consumption Taxes of the Committee on Fiscal Affairs. It was written by Stéphane Buydens of the OECD Centre for Tax Policy and Administration (CTPA) under the supervision of Piet Battiau, Head of the VAT Unit in the CTPA.