Consumption Tax Trends provides information on Value Added Taxes/Goods and Services Taxes (VAT/GST) and excise duty rates in OECD member countries. It also contains information about international aspects of VAT/GST developments and the efficiency of this tax.

Inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies depends on greater economic competitiveness. Although the gap is closing gradually, the standards of living in WB6 are well below those of the OECD and EU. Accelerating the rate of socio-economic convergence will require a holistic and growth oriented approach to policy making. This is the fourth study of the region (formerly under the title 'Competitiveness in South East Europe') and it comprehensively assesses policy reforms in the WB6 economies across 15 policy areas key to strengthening their competitiveness. It enables WB6 economies to compare economic performance against regional peers, as well as EU-OECD good practices and standards, and to design future policies based on rich evidence and actionable policy recommendations. The regional profile presents assessment findings across five policy clusters crucial to accelerating socio-economic convergence of the WB6 by fostering regional co-operation: business environment, skills, infrastructure and connectivity, digital transformation and greening. Economy-specific profiles complement the regional assessment, offering each WB6 economy an in-depth analysis of their policies supporting competitiveness. They also track the implementation of the previous 2021 study's recommendations and provide additional ones tailored to the economies’ evolving challenges. These recommendations aim to inform structural economic reforms and facilitate the region’s socio-economic convergence towards the standards of the EU and OECD.

Inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies depends on greater economic competitiveness. Although the gap is closing gradually, the standards of living in WB6 are well below those of the OECD and EU. Accelerating the rate of socio-economic convergence will require a holistic and growth oriented approach to policy making. This is the fourth study of the region (formerly under the title 'Competitiveness in South East Europe') and it comprehensively assesses policy reforms in the WB6 economies across 15 policy areas key to strengthening their competitiveness. It enables WB6 economies to compare economic performance against regional peers, as well as EU-OECD good practices and standards, and to design future policies based on rich evidence and actionable policy recommendations. The regional profile presents assessment findings across five policy clusters crucial to accelerating socio-economic convergence of the WB6 by fostering regional co-operation: business environment, skills, infrastructure and connectivity, digital transformation and greening. Economy-specific profiles complement the regional assessment, offering each WB6 economy an in-depth analysis of their policies supporting competitiveness. They also track the implementation of the previous 2021 study's recommendations and provide additional ones tailored to the economies’ evolving challenges. These recommendations aim to inform structural economic reforms and facilitate the region’s socio-economic convergence towards the standards of the EU and OECD.

Inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the six Western Balkan (WB6) economies depends on greater economic competitiveness. Although the gap is closing gradually, the standards of living in WB6 are well below those of the OECD and EU. Accelerating the rate of socio-economic convergence will require a holistic and growth oriented approach to policy making. This is the fourth study of the region (formerly under the title 'Competitiveness in South East Europe') and it comprehensively assesses policy reforms in the WB6 economies across 15 policy areas key to strengthening their competitiveness. It enables WB6 economies to compare economic performance against regional peers, as well as EU-OECD good practices and standards, and to design future policies based on rich evidence and actionable policy recommendations. The regional profile presents assessment findings across five policy clusters crucial to accelerating socio-economic convergence of the WB6 by fostering regional co-operation: business environment, skills, infrastructure and connectivity, digital transformation and greening. Economy-specific profiles complement the regional assessment, offering each WB6 economy an in-depth analysis of their policies supporting competitiveness. They also track the implementation of the previous 2021 study's recommendations and provide additional ones tailored to the economies’ evolving challenges. These recommendations aim to inform structural economic reforms and facilitate the region’s socio-economic convergence towards the standards of the EU and OECD.

With the growth of the digitalized economy, VAT on cross-border digital supplies has emerged as an important issue. Yet, views and practices regarding the application of the VAT on these supplies differ significantly across different jurisdictions. A lack of international VAT harmonization can cause double taxation or unintended double non-taxation, resulting in distortions and revenue losses. VAT in the Digital Era considers unilateral and multilateral options for the creation of an internationally coordinated VAT framework. Providing analysis of the status quo in key jurisdictions, the book explores the implications of the digitalized economy for the VAT systems across borders. It outlines possible approaches that can be taken to achieve a more consistent international VAT treatment of cross-border supplies, and the extent to which a multilateral solution would be preferable and achievable at the international level. Bringing together contributions from leading international voices in the VAT law and policy and international taxation fields, VAT in the Digital Era addresses current issues and proposes ways to coordinate VAT rules on cross-border digital supplies. This new book is essential reading for academics, researchers, governments, and other financial organisations involved with the world's most important indirect tax.

Spillovers from Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine have derailed the Czech Republic’s post-pandemic recovery and further disrupted the impressive catch-up with OECD average incomes seen in the previous two decades. Inflation is high and a tight macroeconomic policy stance is needed to restore price stability.

Fiscal federalism refers to the division of fiscal powers — powers to tax and spend — between different levels of government. The European Union (EU) is often seen as a legislative giant on clay feet, and one of the principal reasons for this feebleness is the lack of a significant fiscal capacity at the Union level. EU Fiscal Federalism: Past, Present, Future explores ten aspects of the EU's fiscal constitution relating both to the fiscal limits it imposes on Member States and the evolution of its own fiscal policy. Bringing together an international and distinguished group of scholars, this volume analyses the different legal dimensions of fiscal federalism within the EU, from the various aspects of the single market (free movement, banking union, state aid, tax harmonization) to the EU's budget and Economic and Monetary Union. The essays provide a fascinating overview of the topic as well as a detailed analysis of where EU fiscal federalism stands today and how it might develop in the future. Sweeping and thorough, EU Fiscal Federalism will appeal to academics and students of European Union law as well as to European policymakers.

Taxocracy: What You Don’t Know About Taxes and How They Rule Your Daily Life won’t help you lower your tax bill, but it will help you understand how politicians use taxes to influence our lives, how taxes harm the economy, and why we need a simpler tax system. Did you ever wonder why the costs of health care, housing, and college tuition keep going up? Or how your neighbor could afford that fancy electric car? Or why there are so many hard seltzers on the market? Your first guess might not be “taxes,” but they play a big role. We live in a world ruled by taxes—a taxocracy. History is full of misguided tax policies that led to “see-through” buildings, tax-free attics, three-wheeled cars, women in children’s clothing, and baked chips to go along with our hard seltzer. Written by former Tax Foundation CEO Scott Hodge, Taxocracy: What You Don’t Know About Taxes and How They Rule Your Daily Life uses amusing lessons from past tax policies gone wrong to explore how the US tax code caused serious consequences, affecting how we get our health insurance, the price of a college education, what car we buy, where we bank, and, in some cases, even when we die. Taxocracy outlines economic principles for designing a tax code that doesn’t rule our daily lives—a tax code that promotes economic growth, free-enterprise, and takes the politics out of tax policy.

Thailand has achieved remarkable economic progress over the past decades. A strong and timely policy response helped to cushion the economic and social impact of the pandemic, and of high energy and food prices.