The tax burden in 2017 reached 32.4 per cent of the economy, up from 31.7 per cent in 2016, and 31.1 per cent in 2015.

In 2014, the tax-to-GDP ratio was 32.6 per cent.

The National Statistics Office reported on Friday that the average tax burden taken over the past 10 years was 32.1 per cent, which is six percentage points below that of the EU.

The tax burden denotes the total amount of taxes and social contributions paid, expressed as a percentage of GDP.

Government brought in €3.6 billion in direct taxes, indirect taxes and social contributions in 2017. This represents €381.4 million more than in 2016, with the increases registered in all three categories.

Indirect taxes represent 39.5 per cent of the tax collected, with 44 per cent coming from income tax, and 16.5 per cent from social contributions.

Income tax revenues went up by €184 million between 2016 and 2017, with the bulk of the increase coming from households (€101.4 million) and the rest from financial corporations (€48.8 million) and non-financial corporations (€34.7 million).

The NSO published historical comparisons, which show that personal income tax was €560 million in 2014, rising to €780 million in 2017. Over the same period, corporate income tax went up from €513 million in 2014 to €731 million.

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