Britons pay more tax than Germans

UK tax burden has grown since 1997

Britons are paying more tax than Germans for the first time in more than a decade, new figures have revealed.

The shift has come because tax burdens are falling in many of the world's richest countries, according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

While the tax burden in the UK in 2000 and 2001 remained the same at 37.4% of national income, it has risen by 2.4 percentage points since Labour took office in 1997.

It is the first time in a decade that the UK's tax burden has been higher than in Germany, where the economy has been suffering from poor growth.

Higher taxes

Tax burdens, as measured by the ratio of tax to gross domestic product (GDP), fell in 15 OECD countries between 2000 and 2001, the OECD said.

Tax burden in UK*

1975: 35.3%

1985: 37.7%

1990: 36.8%

1995: 34.8%

1999: 36.4%

2000: 37.4%

2001: 37.4%

Source: OECD. Total tax revenue as percentage of GDP

The UK government's tax revenues rose by 2.4 percentage points between 1997 and 2001.

Between 1997, when Labour came to power, and 2001, the tax burden increased from 35% of national income to 37.4%.

In contrast, Germany's tax burden fell from 37.9% in 2000 to 36.4% in 2001.

In 1995 Germany's tax burden was much higher than the UK's.

The tax burden was 38.2% of national income, compared with just 34.8% in the UK.

The Treasury dismissed the OECD findings, a spokesman told BBC News Online: "It is wrong to make comparisons since the way in which the German figures are compiled is different."