METHODS OF TAX BURDEN MEASUREMENT: A PRACTICAL CASE FOR EUROPEAN UNION COUNTRIES

This article focuses on the options available for tax burden measurement. It aims to describe and evaluate different methods for measuring the tax burden.(2) The results will be verified for EU member countries. The article uses the descriptive analysis of data, positive approach to the economy and comparison method, respectively. The results show that the least suitable indicator of the tax burden is the statutory tax rate, followed by the tax quota and implicit tax rate, respectively. The most appropriate indicator is the World Tax Index (WTI), which is based on a combination of soft and hard data. Because calculating the WTI is quite difficult, the Spearman rank correlation test was used to evaluate whether there is some indicator which can best substitute for the WTI. The conclusion shows that it is quite difficult to approximate the WTI by means of other tax burden indicators which are more easily available.