THE STANDARD VAT RATE AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF FISCAL POLICY IN EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present and assess the impact of a standard VAT rate on fiscal revenues of the European Union Member States. The article follows the method of economic statistical analysis and offers a review of available literature on the subject. The basic VAT rates of the European Union countries are presented, compared and correlated with tax revenues related to consumption taxes in the years 2005–2019. These years were chosen for analysis because of the biggest European Union enlargement which took place during 2004. A statistical analysis was conducted. The data of a correlation coefficient for each country and the dynamics indicators were calculated. The results of the statistical analysis for Member States were interpreted. The article assesses the relationship between the standard VAT rate and the share of consumption tax revenues in GDP.