This report provides an overview of the tax measures introduced during the COVID-19 crisis since the outbreak of the pandemic. It is an update to the report that was presented at the G20 Finance Ministers’ Meeting held on 15 April 2020. The aim of the report is to provide an overview of how tax measures have evolved since last year and identify the key tax policy trends across countries.

The report has been prepared for G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG). The report updates the OECD report on Tax and Fiscal Policy in Response to the Coronavirus Crisis, which was presented to the G20 FMCBG in April 2020.

This Chapter provides a general assessment of the macroeconomic situation and outlook. It covers trends in growth, industrial activity, trade, investment, the labour market, public finances and inflation, based on the OECD Economic Outlook, Interim Report March 2021. This background is useful to understand the context in which the tax measures discussed in the report were adopted (Chapter 2), but also to identify how tax policy responses may need to evolve in the future (Chapter 3).

This Chapter provides an update on the tax measures adopted by countries during the COVID-19 crisis. It starts by providing an overview of the tax measures introduced in 2020 and early 2021 in the 66 countries and jurisdictions that replied to the 2021 OECD Tax Policy Reform Questionnaire, highlighting their evolution over time as well as differences across countries. It then provides a more detailed description of changes to corporate income taxes and other business taxes (section 2.2), personal income taxes and social security contributions (section 2.3), VAT/GST and excise duties (section 2.4), environmentally related taxes (section 2.5) and property taxes (section 2.6).

This Chapter offers some guidance as to how tax policy responses could be adapted in the future. It identifies guiding principles on how countries can improve the targeting of emergency relief and carefully withdraw it as they emerge from the grip of the pandemic and loosen mobility and other restrictions. It also provides some guidance on how to design and implement effective stimulus-oriented tax measures. It concludes by providing a brief overview of the work that the OECD will be undertaking to help countries reassess their tax and spending policies in the longer run.