This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| OECD Tax Database | |
|---|---|
| Name | OECD Tax Database |
| Formed | 1990s |
| Type | International statistical database |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Parent organization | Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |
| Region served | International |
OECD Tax Database
The OECD Tax Database is an international statistical resource maintained by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that compiles comparative taxation indicators across member and partner jurisdictions. It provides standardized time series and cross-country tables used by analysts at institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Commission, and national agencies like the Internal Revenue Service and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs. Policymakers, researchers, and journalists from entities including the United Nations, European Central Bank, Bank for International Settlements, and think tanks such as the Brookings Institution and Peterson Institute for International Economics regularly rely on its outputs.
The database aggregates tax statistics linked to corporate, individual, consumption, property, and social security taxation across jurisdictions such as United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, Mexico, and members of the European Union. It is part of a suite of analytical tools alongside OECD publications like Revenue Statistics, Taxing Wages, and the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project. Historical developments in international taxation—illustrated by initiatives like the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters and the Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting—contextualize its role.
Content includes standardized indicators such as statutory corporate tax rates, effective marginal tax rates, tax-to-GDP ratios, and profiles of tax bases and allowances for jurisdictions including Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and New Zealand. The database documents features of tax systems referenced in comparative studies by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development itself, the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Committee on Fiscal Affairs, and national ministries such as the Ministry of Finance (Japan), Bundesministerium der Finanzen, and HM Treasury. It also contains breakdowns that inform analyses by institutions like the OECD/IMF Tax Policy Review teams and academic centers at London School of Economics, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and University of Oxford.
Primary inputs derive from national administrations such as Agence centrale des organismes de sécurité sociale, Korean National Tax Service, Revenue Commissioners (Ireland), and statistical offices like Statistics Canada, Eurostat, and Office for National Statistics. Methodology builds on conventions developed in collaboration with bodies such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and reflects guidelines similar to those in the System of National Accounts and the Government Finance Statistics Manual. The database harmonizes definitions for concepts like statutory rates, tax bases, and exemptions drawing on legal texts including national tax codes, bilateral instruments such as the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement, and supranational rules like Council Directive 2011/16/EU. Quality assurance involves rounds of data verification with tax administrations and peer review by the Committee on Fiscal Affairs.
Users access tables and downloadable time series via the OECD web platform and analytical interfaces used by institutions such as the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and the International Monetary Fund’s Fiscal Affairs Department. Tools include interactive visualizations similar to those available from World Bank Open Data, crosswalks to classifications like the ISIC Rev.4 and concordances used by the United Nations Statistics Division, and metadata that cite legislative sources such as the Internal Revenue Code and national statutes like the Income Tax Act 2007 (UK). Data extraction supports integration with statistical packages used at universities including Princeton University and research centers like Centre for Economic Policy Research.
The database underpins policy assessments, fiscal forecasting, and academic research cited in reports by the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, World Bank, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and national budget offices such as the Congressional Budget Office. It informs public debates on tax competition among jurisdictions like Ireland and Luxembourg, corporate tax reform discussions influenced by the OECD/G20 Inclusive Framework on BEPS, and evaluations of redistributive effects studied by scholars at University of Chicago, Yale University, and Columbia University. Media outlets including Financial Times, The Economist, The New York Times, and Le Monde use its statistics for reporting on fiscal trends.
Critiques from academic researchers and NGOs such as Tax Justice Network and Oxfam point to limitations in capturing profit shifting, shadow economies, and the tax impacts of intangible assets in jurisdictions such as Cayman Islands and Bermuda. Methodological caveats note reliance on official returns that may lag or omit intra-firm transfer pricing effects highlighted in studies at London School of Economics and Stanford University. Observers from European Parliament and civil society have called for greater granularity and timelier publication to match rapid reforms like digital service tax measures in India, France, and United Kingdom. Debates in forums including the G20 and United Nations General Assembly continue about expanding coverage to better represent low-capacity administrations such as those in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and small island states like Barbados and Mauritius.
Category:Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development