BRUSSELS: Fiscal pressure on companies is at 58.7% in Belgium, states the 2017 “Paying Taxes” report published Wednesday by PwC and the World Bank.
According to the study, which analysed the fiscal systems of 190 countries, the tax burden in Belgium is far above the European average and is one of the highest in the world.
Fiscal pressure, as calculated in the report, considers company taxes and personal taxes paid by employers, but also a series of other taxes. According to the results, Belgium is in the third highest position in Europe, after Italy (62%) and France (62.8%), while the European average is at 40.3%.
The lowest tax pressure in European countries is in Luxembourg (20.8%), Croatia (20.9%) and Cyrus (24.7%). Contrarily, it reaches 48.9% in Germany and 40.4% in the Netherlands. The “Paying Taxes 2017” report also calculates the time required for compliance; that is, the number of hours needed for a company to have everything in order regarding its tax obligations.
In Belgium, 161 hours are required, versus 139 in France, 119 in the Netherlands, and 110 in the United Kingdom. Germany (218 hours) and Italy (240 hours) are above the European average of 164 hours. Considering all of the analysis criteria, Belgium is in 66th place in the report. Qatar and United Arab Emirates are in first place. The European countries at the top of the list are Ireland (5th), Denmark (7th) and the United Kingdom (10th).
