ABSTRACT
From the early 1990s, most of the tax systems in Europe were subject to significant changes. Many others are currently under way or in the planning stages (for the details see Chapter 1 and chapters relating to specific countries, and also Joumard 2001). The forces which shaped the reforms were several (see Foreword) and often conflicting. Fiscal systems were requested to raise revenue, in order to fulfill the Maastricht requirements and then those of the Stability Pact (see Chapter 4). A reduction of fiscal pressure was also called for to boost declining growth and employment. To sustain this proposal, a recurring argument was the comparison with the USA, whose growth was higher but taxes much lower. Fiscal competition in an increasingly integrated world affected tax rates and structures of the most mobile bases. Common opinion called for more efficiency, thus stressing the need for making taxes more simple and neutral. Political factors, however, such as the pressure of lobby groups (see Chapter 3), prevented this process from going very far.
