The UK is inhibiting its economy with a tax burden 18 percent heavier than the global average and should consider setting a specific target for lowering the overall tax take, according to research by accountants UHY Hacker Young.
UHY’s findings show that tax revenue in the UK represents a third (32.9 percent) of gross domestic product, a fifth higher than the global average of 27.8 percent.
The UK therefore lags behind the US, where the total amount of tax taken by the Government is just over a quarter of GBP, at 25.4 percent. The UK also lags behind Ireland (28.3 percent), and even Japan (29.5 percent). The report points out that Ireland, which has the lowest tax burden in Western Europe, is also enjoying the fastest growth rate in Europe. Last year, the Irish economy grew by 4.8 percent (compared with 2.6 percent in the UK), and Ireland is attracting significant levels of foreign investment and is the number one destination for US foreign direct investment.
