Tax systems are primarily aimed at financing public expenditures.1 Tax systems are also used to promote other objectives, such as equity, and to address social and economic concerns. They need to be set up to minimise taxpayers’ compliance costs and government’s administrative cost, while also discouraging tax avoidance and evasion. But taxes also affect the decisions of households to save, supply labour and invest in human capital, the decisions of firms to produce, create jobs, invest and innovate, as well as the choice of savings channels and assets by investors. What matters for these decisions is not only the level of taxes but also the way in which different tax instruments are designed and combined to generate revenues (what this chapter will henceforth refer to as tax structures). The effects of tax levels and tax structures on agents’ economic behaviour are likely to be reflected in overall living standards. Recognising this, over the past decades many OECD countries have undertaken structural reforms in their tax systems. Most of the personal income tax reforms have tried to create a fiscal environment that encourages saving, investment, entrepreneurship and provides increased work incentives. Likewise, most corporate tax reforms have been driven by the desire to promote competition and avoid tax-induced distortions. Almost all of these tax reforms can be characterised as involving rate cuts and base broadening in order to improve efficiency, while at the same time maintain tax revenues.

The level and mix of taxation vary markedly across OECD countries but there have been a number of common trends.Many countries have cut personal and corporate tax rates while broadening the tax base and increasing social security contributions. Meanwhile, there has been an increased use of value-added taxes and a general trend to higher VAT rates. The data presented in this chapter shows to which degree countries have followed strategies with regard to the composition of tax revenues and changes in statutory tax rates that are similar to the “tax and growth” recommendations. The analysis also helps to identify the most severe “tax and growth” obstacles.