The report compiled by the Tax Foundation shows that Hungary achieved 13th position, just behind Slovakia and Turkey, but overtaking Finland and Norway. This was primarily due to the country having the lowest corporate tax rate of 9 percent among all member states, where the average is 23.9 percent.
Hungary’s score could have been significantly better, were it not for its 27 percent value-added tax, the highest among OECD member states. The United States has the lowest consumption tax rate of 9 percent. Hungary is also among the few (13) OECD members that has a tax on financial transactions.
Estonia has consistently headed the list for the past three years, followed by Latvia and New Zealand. Among the Visegrád countries, the Czech Republic is 9th, Slovakia 11th and Poland is third from the bottom in 33rd position. France has for the fifth consecutive year been trailing the list due to its high property taxes and a corporate tax rate of 34.4 percent.
