How is the VAT in the countries of the European Union

Spain is not the only country in Europe that has seen its taxes increased, although there are some that already had them at a much higher rate than ours. In addition, with the crisis, many European states have been forced to apply measures to reduce the deficit, including raising tax rates. If you are interested in seeing the difference between the Spanish VAT and that of the rest of Europe, be careful, because in .com we explain how VAT is in the countries of the European Union. Photo: attpublicpolicy.eu

Which countries have increased it?

The main countries that have had to increase VAT, apart from Spain, are Finland, in 2010, Ireland together with Greece and Portugal recently and others such as the United Kingdom, Romania, the Czech Republic and Italy.

General type

The European average of the general rate is close to 20%, being Hungary (27%), Denmark (25%), Sweden (25%), Croatia (25%), together with Finland and Romania (24%) the countries in which is higher. In the intervened countries such as Portugal, Ireland and Greece, this rate is 23%, as in Poland. Italy and Slovenia, together with Spain, have had to raise it, in this case up to 22%, while Spain has raised it to 21%, equaling Latvia, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Ukraine, which already had this index with anteriority. The most "strong" nations, such as France, Austria or the United Kingdom, have their VAT at 20%, equaling other countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia or Estonia. The countries of the European Union with the lowest general rate are Luxembourg and Malta, with 15% and 18% respectively, while Germany and Cyprus would remain at 19%.

Reduced type

The reduced rate in Europe presents an average of 10%, with Hungary (18%), the Czech Republic (14%), Finland (13%) and the intervened countries (Greece (13%), Portugal (13%) and Ireland There are many other countries, such as Belgium, Latvia, Romania, Sweden and Luxembourg, which have their VAT reduced to 12%, while Italy and Spain have had to raise it to 10%, equaling Austria, Slovakia and Slovenia, with Germany and France holding their tax rate at 7%, as well as Malta, the United Kingdom (5%), Cyprus (5%) and the Netherlands (6%) are the nations that show a lowest rate, while Denmark does not impose reduced rate on any product.

Super reduced type

In this case the average would be over 6%, although it must be borne in mind that some countries, such as Denmark, Austria, Bulgaria, Estonia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Slovakia, the Netherlands and Latvia, do not have a super-reduced VAT rate. Finland (9%) and Ireland (9%) are the European states with the highest index. The other intervened countries, such as Portugal and Greece, present rates of 6%, while Spain and Italy are at 4%. France (2.1%), Luxembourg (3%) and Poland (3%) are the members of the EU with a lower super-reduced VAT.