Revenue Statistics 2016 - the United States
Tax-to-GDP ratio
Tax-to-GDP ratio over time
The OECD’s annual Revenue Statistics report found that the tax-to-GDP ratio in the United States increased by 0.5
percentage points, from 25.9% in 2014 to 26.4% in 2015. The corresponding figures for the OECD average were an
increase of 0.1 percentage point from 34.2% to 34.3% over the same period. Since the year 2000, the tax-to-GDP ratio in
the United States has decreased from 28.2% to 26.4%. Over the same period, the OECD average in 2015 was slightly
above that in 2000 (34.3% compared with 34.0%).
United States
%
35
34.0
33.5
33.2
33.2
33.1
33.6
33.7
OECD
33.8
33.2
32.4
32.6
33.0
33.4
33.8
34.2
25.7
25.9
34.3
30
28.2
25
27.2
24.9
25.9
24.4
24.6
26.7
26.7
25.7
23.0
23.5
23.9
26.4
24.1
20
Tax-to-GDP ratio compared to the OECD
The United States ranked 31st out of 35 OECD countries in terms of the tax-to-GDP ratio in 2015.* In 2015, the United
States had a tax-to-GDP ratio of 26.4% compared with the OECD average of 34.3%. In 2014, the United States was
ranked 32nd out of the 35 OECD countries in terms of the tax-to-GDP ratio.
%
46.6
45.5 44.8
44.0 43.5 43.3 43.3
39.4
OECD average, 34.3%
38.1 37.8
37.1 37.0 36.9 36.8 36.6 34.5 33.8 33.6 33.5
32.8 32.5 32.3 32.1 32.0 31.9
31.4
30.0 29.0
▼
27.9 27.8
26.4
25.3
23.6
20.7
17.4
* Australia, Japan and Poland are unable to provide provisional 2015 data, therefore their latest 2014 data are presented within this country note.
In the OECD classification the term “taxes” is confined to compulsory unrequited payments to general government. Taxes are unrequited in the sense that benefits provided by
government to taxpayers are not normally in proportion to their payments.
Tax structures
Tax structure compared to the OECD average
The structure of tax receipts in the United States compared with the OECD average is shown in the figure below.
United States
OECD unweighted average
%
39
24
24
8
26
20
17
13
11
9
6
0
Taxes on personal Taxes on corporate
income, profits and income and gains
gains
Social security
contributions
1
0
Payroll taxes
Taxes on property
1
0
Value Added
Taxes/Goods and
Services Tax
Taxes on goods
and services
(excluding
VAT/GST)
Other
Relative to the OECD average, the tax structure in the United States is characterised by:
Substantially higher revenues from taxes on personal income, profits and gains, and higher revenues from taxes on
»
property and goods and services (excluding VAT/GST).
» A lower proportion of revenues from taxes on corporate income and gains and social security contributions.
» No revenues from taxes on payroll and value added taxes.
Tax structure
Tax structure in the
United States
%
Tax Revenues in national currency
US Dollar, millions
2014
2013
2014
2013
D
2014
2013
D
2 147 832
2 014 211
+ 133 621
48
47
+1
5th
5th
-
Personal income, profits and gains
1 768 531
1 659 113
+ 109 418
39
39
-
3rd
3rd
-
Corporate income and gains
379 301
355 098
+ 24 203
8
8
-
15th
16th
+1
1 082 386
1 032 550
+ 49 836
24
24
-
24th
23rd
-1
Taxes on income, profits and capital gains
D
Position in OECD²
of which
Social security contributions
Payroll taxes
-
-
-
26th
26th
-
Taxes on property
487 096
-
483 072
+ 4 024
11
11
-
4th
3rd
-1
Taxes on goods and services
783 216
753 196
+ 30 020
17
18
-1
35th
34th
-1
of which VAT
Other¹
TOTAL
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
35th
35th
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
34th
33rd
-1
100
100
-
-
-
-
4 500 530
4 283 029
+ 217 501
Tax revenue includes net receipts for all levels of government; figures in the table may not sum to the total indicated due to rounding.
1. Includes income taxes not allocable to either personal or corporate income.
2. The country with the highest share being 1st and the country with the lowest share being 35th.
Source: OECD Revenue Statistics 2016 http://www.oecd.org/tax/tax-policy/revenue-statistics.htm
Contacts
David Bradbury
Michelle Harding
Michel Lahittete
Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
Head, Tax Policy and Statistics Division
[email protected]
Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
Head, Tax Data & Statistical Analysis Unit
[email protected]
Centre for Tax Policy and Administration
Statistician
[email protected]