Portugal has the highest VAT rates in the EU. What explains it is from that weighsmore in our overall tax burden.

Portugal is the eighth European Union country where the VAT weighs more in total tax burden. The revenue from this tax is equivalent to 8.5% of gross domestic product. Eurostat data released on Friday showed, however, that the tax burden reached here by a maximum of 37.2% in 2013, and then fell back the following year.

In terms of tax burden structure only in Croatia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Cyprus VAT has a higher weight than in Portugal. In all these cases the observed values ​​exceed the EU average (7.0%) and the Euro zone (6.8%).

Regarding the weight of taxes and contributions in the economy, Eurostat figures show that Portugal was one of the few countries where the tax burden retreated between 2013 and 2014. In the euro zone, only three countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and Slovenia) have followed the same trend, since in most States the movement was rising.

Portugal recorded a historic high in 2013 following the sharp rise in IRS operated as it was this year that the IRS surcharge settled and that the levels of the tax have shrunk from eight to five.

In 2014, it was observed due to a decrease in clearance rates IRC. Tax changes that have successive lying hand in recent years explain, however, that the ratios of taxes to GDP has risen from 34.2% in 2005 to 36.9% in 2014.

Throughout the European Union, Denmark was the country that worsened the tax burden between 2013 and 2014, followed by Cyprus (which, like Portugal, needed to resort to the help of international lenders).

[Source]