Determinantes e taxa de maximização das receitas de IVA na União Europeia

Abstract

The Value Added Tax (VAT) is an important and essential instrument of fiscal policy. According to the latest data from Eurostat, in 2019, in the European Union (EU), this tax represented a source of revenue of around 17.9% of all taxation. Given its relevance, it is important to know the determinants and the rate of revenue maximization. In order to carry out this study, two equations that explain the VAT revenues were estimated based on the VAT rate (normal and implicit) and a set of other fiscal, economic, efficiency and demographic variables. To estimate the two equations, the OLS estimator with fixed country and year effects was used, based on annual data between the period 2000 and 2019, including, for the current 27 EU Member States. The results show that the fiscal and economic variables have a positive impact on VAT revenues, demographic ones have a negative impact and the efficiency variables have an inconclusive effect. Additionally, the results also suggest that the standard rate that would maximize VAT revenue is 25.66% and the implicit rate that would maximize VAT revenue is 19.20%, showing that an increase in rates may still have potential to generate increases in VAT revenues in most Member States.

Date of Award	8 Jul 2021
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Maria José Martins Lourenço da Fonseca (Supervisor) & Ricardo Ribeiro (Co-Supervisor)