Eurostat: Romania's 2009 tax burden, among the smallest in EU

At the opposite end there were Sweden and Denmark with a ratio of 46.9 percent and 48.1 percent, respectively, according to data released on Friday by the Eurostat official statistic office of the European Union.

The overall tax-to-GDP ratio in the EU27 declined to 38.4 percent in 2009, compared with 39.3 percent in 2008. Data indicate that this decrease was essentially due to the 4.3 percent drop in GDP from 2008 to 2009, rather than to tax cuts. In Romania's case, the ratio went down from 30.2 percent in 2000 to 28 percent in 2008 and 27 percent in 2009.

About half of the EU member states have increased VAT rates between 2008 and 2011. The highest increases were recorded in Hungary (from 20.0 percent to 25.0 percent), Romania (from 19.0 percent to 24.0 percent), Greece (from 19.0 percent to 23.0 percent) and Latvia (from 18.0 percent to 22.0 percent).

The average top personal income tax rate in the EU27 fell in 2011, largely due to a 20-percentage point drop in Hungary. The highest top rates on 2011 personal income are found in Sweden (56.4 percent), Belgium (53.7 percent), the Netherlands (52.0 percent), Denmark (51.5 percent), Austria and the United Kingdom (both 50.0 percent), and the lowest in Bulgaria (10.0 percent), the Czech Republic and Lithuania (both 15.0 percent), Romania (16.0 percent) and Slovakia (19.0 percent). In 2000-2011, personal income tax in Romania dropped from 40 percent to 16 percent, while elsewhere in the EU it fell from 44.7 percent to 37.1 percent.

Corporate tax rates in the EU27 continued their declining trend in 2011. The highest statutory tax rates6 on 2011 corporate income are recorded in Malta (35.0 percent), France (34.4 percent) and Belgium (34.0 percent), and the lowest in Bulgaria and Cyprus (both 10.0 percent) and Ireland (12.5 percent).