| Abstract: |
The governments of the European Union are facing important challenges that may
impact both their need and their capacity to collect taxes. First, ageing will
increase some social spending while reducing the potential of some tax bases
such as labour. Second, globalisation has the potential to increase the
mobility of capital and of high-skilled workers, making it more difficult to
rely on them as a source of revenues. Finally, the desire to shift tax away
from labour and to make work pay while retaining the social models will force
Member States to find alternative robust tax bases. This paper reviews the
most recent trends in taxation in the European Union and discusses several tax
policy issues in the light of those coming challenges. |