Taxation and Small Business in the EEC: So Me Facts and Some Issues

Abstract

Graham Bannock is an independent consultant with a special interest in small firms, having previously been managing director of the Economist Intelligence Unit and ealier director of research for the United Kingdom's Bolton Committee on Small Firms. The structure of the tax system and the rates of taxation are an important -some would say the most important -element in the environment for small business. The paper discusses why this is so, selectively reviews facts on the tax systems in the ten European Economic Community member states collected together in a recent EIU study and briefly touches upon the policy issues which emerge. The author gratefully acknowledges permission from The Economist Publications Ltd. to reproduce material from the EIU study.