Greece ranks 25th among the 38 OECD countries in this year’s International Tax Competitiveness Index published today by the Center for Liberal Studies (KEFIM) in our country in collaboration with the Tax Foundation. Greece’s ranking remains unchanged for 2022.
In particular, for 2023 Greece gathers a total score of 61.4 in the Index, marking a drop of 1.5 points. Regarding the individual categories of the Index, Greece ranks:
- in 19th place in corporate taxation,
- in 8th place in the taxation of natural persons,
- in 33rd place in consumption taxation,
- 28th in property taxes,
- and in 23rd place in terms of taxation of profits abroad.
The authors of this year’s Index highlight the following weaknesses of Greece’s tax system:
- Companies in Greece face strict limitations on the amounts of net use losses with which they can offset future profits. They also cannot use losses to reduce previous taxable income.
- Greece has a relatively limited rate of tax treaties (57 treaties against the OECD average of 74).
- Greece has one of the highest VAT rates in the OECD (24%) with one of the narrowest tax bases.
Among the positive points of the Greek tax system highlighted in the survey are the following:
- The net personal tax rate on dividends, at 5%, is significantly below the OECD average (24.2%).
- The corporate income tax rate of 22% is below the OECD average (23.6%).
- Controlled Foreign Corporation regulations in Greece are moderate and only apply to passive income.
For the tenth consecutive year, Estonia was named the country with the most competitive tax code, while the last place (38th) was occupied by Colombia. Greece is ranked this year between Japan (24th) and Mexico (26th).
The Executive Director of KEFIM Nikos Rompapas stated in this regard:
“After the significant improvement in the ranking of our country in terms of its tax competitiveness in the last two years (4 places improvement last year, 1 place improvement in 2021), no relevant change was recorded this year, while Greece’s overall score in the Index slightly worsened, which raises reasonable concerns of reform fatigue or even possible future backsliding. It is clear that Greece needs a competitive tax system to attract new investments to the country that will create jobs and prosperity. The great utility of the International Tax Competitiveness Index is that it not only records Greece’s position in relation to comparable countries, but also highlights the areas where we can achieve significant improvements.”
Tax Foundation Executive Vice President and lead author of the study Daniel Bunn pointed out: “International tax competition is intensifying at a rapid pace and it is important that policymakers pay attention to their country’s ranking if they want to retain talented people and invest in the future of their national economy.”
Read the full text of the Greek version of the Index here.
International Tax Competitiveness Index
The International Tax Competitiveness Index measures the extent to which a country’s tax system promotes sustainable economic growth and investment, using over 40 variables in five categories: corporate income tax, personal taxes, consumption taxes, property taxes and international taxation rules
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