Tax revenue: in 2023, 17.3 per cent will come from corporation tax
This was revealed in the report *Corporate Tax Statistics 2026*, compiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Tax revenue generated by corporate income tax in 2023 accounted, on average, for 17.3 per cent of total tax revenue across 135 jurisdictions. This is revealed in the report ‘Corporate Tax Statistics 2026’, published on 21 July by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Where the burden on businesses is growing
The share of corporate tax revenue in total tax revenue has increased over recent decades, bearing in mind that in 2000 it stood at 12.3 per cent.Multinational companies, on average, account for almost 45 per cent of corporate tax revenue. With an average of 11.9 per cent, OECD countries were those in which corporate taxation has had the least impact. The share of corporate tax revenue is rising in Latin America and the Caribbean (18.7 per cent) and in the Asia-Pacific region (19.5 per cent). However, the largest contribution to tax revenue comes from Africa, with an average of 21.4 per cent.
On average, the ratio to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 stood at 3.5 per cent. This ratio reflects a trend whereby, compared with the early 2000s, low-income countries have moved closer to high-income countries: from 0.8 per cent in 2000 to 1.8 per cent in 2016 and 3.1 per cent in 2023. In high-income countries, the ratio stood at 3.6 per cent in 2023. In this regard, the report adopts the classification proposed by the World Bank, which defines a country as low-income if its gross national income per capita is less than $1,135. Conversely, if per capita income exceeds $13,935, the country is considered high-income.
Tax burden and average revenue
From a geographical perspective, the burden of corporate taxation as a proportion of GDP is highest in OECD countries and in Latin American and Caribbean countries (3.8 per cent). These are followed, by a modest margin, by the Asia-Pacific region (3.4 per cent) and Africa (3.3 per cent). Overall, the share of corporate tax revenue in total tax revenue has increased significantly: in 2000 it stood at 12.3 per cent, whilst in 2023 it stood at 17.3 per cent. Measured both as a percentage of total revenue and as a percentage of GDP, average revenue from corporate taxation peaked in 2008, before falling in 2008 and 2009. After another peak in 2012, the share of corporate tax revenue fell between 2013 and 2016, before rising again between 2017 and 2023. In 2022, both as a proportion of total tax revenue and as a proportion of GDP, levels exceeded those of 2008 and 2012: according to the report, ‘this increase may reflect the recovery in corporate profits and tax revenue following the crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic”.
