Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

D1: Excessive deficit procedure, methodology and GFS

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Detailed tax and social contribution receipts by type of tax or social contribution and by sub-sector of general government, notified by national authorities in line with Table 0900 of the ESA 2010 transmission programme.

Data are presented in euro/ECU, national currency units (euro-fixed where appropriate) and as a percentage of GDP.

Geographic coverage: EU and euro area, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland.

Main sources of data: National authorities.

Methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA 2010).

In addition, the "ESA 2010 Manual of Government Deficit and Debt" contains Eurostat decisions on recording of taxes and social contributions.

General government sector (S.13) as well as subsectors as well as the Institutions of the EU (S.212). The general government sector as defined in ESA 2010 (paragraph 2.111) includes "institutional units which are non-market producers whose output is intended for individual and collective consumption, and are financed by compulsory payments made by units belonging to other sectors, and institutional units principally engaged in the redistribution of national income and wealth".

The indicators are compiled on a national accounts (ESA 2010) basis. They comprise detailed tax and social contribution receipts for the general government sector (S.13) and its subsectors (central, state, local and social security funds) plus the Institutions of the EU (S.212), using the ESA 2010 classification but in a more detail breakdown than in ESA table 0200.

The indicators are as reported under table 0900 'Detailed tax and social contribution receipts by type of tax and social contribution and receiving subsector' of the ESA 2010 transmission programme. For definitions, see European system of accounts (ESA 2010).

Institutional units and groupings of units as defined in ESA 2010.

The institutional units included in general government sector (S.13) according to ESA2010 (paragraph 2.112) include, among others, the following:

a) general government units which exist through a legal process to have judicial authority over other units in the economic territory, and administer and finance a group of activities, principally providing non-market goods and services, intended for the benefit of the community;

b) a corporation or quasi-corporation which is a government unit, if its output is mainly non-market and a government unit controls it;

c) non-profit institutions recognised as independent legal entities which are non-market producers and which are controlled by general government;

d) autonomous pension funds, where there is a legal obligation to contribute, and where general government manages the funds with respect to the settlement and approval of contributions and benefits.

S.212 are the institutions of the European Union. As regards taxes, for example the first and second EU own resources are recorded in S.212 (ESA2010 paragraph 4.25).

Target population is the general government sector as well as the Institutions of the European Union.

EU and euro area aggregates, EU Member States, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland.

The legal requirement is that all series should start in 1995, subject to data derogations. However, in practice the length of the series available varies widely from one country to another. Some series may start even earlier than 1995.

Not available.

Data are presented in millions of Euro/ECU and national currency (euro-fixed where appropriate), as well as in percentage of GDP. All data is in current prices. For GDP, at release dates close to the release of EDP notfication data, GDP as transmitted in the context of EDP is used. GDP sourced from national accounts is used at other release dates.

The reference period is the calendar year.

National Accounts are compiled in accordance with the European System of Accounts (ESA 2010) adopted in the form of a Council Regulation dated 21 May 2013, No 549/2013 and published in the Official Journal L 174 of the 26/06/2013. A consolidated version is available on http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32013R0549&from=EN

The legal basis for the "Main national accounts tax aggregates" domain is Table 0900 "Detailed tax and social contribution receipts by type of tax and social contribution and receiving subsector" of the ESA 2010 transmission programme - Annex B of Council Regulation (EU) N° 549/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2013.

Data are transmitted under embargo to the OECD and other Commission services before release. Data are transmitted to the ECB shortly before release.

Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.

According to policy rules.

The legal deadline for transmission is T+9 months after the end of the reference period. Data for all countries is generally disseminated by T+10 months after the end of the reference period. Approximate dates can be found the update schedules for Statistics Explained communicated on the Eurostat website. Throughout the year, database updates take place in line with Member States' data transmissions. EU and euro area aggregates are then updated accordingly. 

Data for all reporting countries and aggregates is published at the end of October. Throughout the year, database updates may take place. 

Data are disseminated simultaneously to all interested parties through a database update and on Eurostat's website (see "Accessibility and clarity" below for more details). However, data are transmitted - under embargo - to OECD, ECB and other Commission services a few hours before release.

Annual data. Individual country data and updated EU/EA aggregates are released whenever updated country data are transmitted and validated.

News releases.

Statistics Explained - Tax revenue statistics.

Please consult free data online or refer to contact details. However, all available data is disseminated.

Not applicable.

Please see also: http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/home and the dedicated government finance statistics section.

The methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA 2010).

Further provisions related to taxes and social contributions are contained in

Regulation (EC) No 2516/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 November 2000 modifying the common principles of the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (ESA) 95 as concerns taxes and social contributions and amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2223/96 (integrated in ESA2010)

and

Commission Regulation (EC) No 995/2001 of 22 May 2001 implementing Regulation (EC) No 2516/2000 of the European Parliament and of the Council modifying the common principles of the European system of national and regional accounts in the Community (ESA 95) as concerns taxes and social contributions (integrated in ESA2010)

The "Manual of Government Deficit and Debt" contains also Eurostat decisions on recording of taxes and social contributions.

The progress in respect of data availability and quality is reviewed and reported in the internal Eurostat's documents to the data compilers from Member States, EFTA and candidate countries.

The plausibility of the data is checked for each transmission and Member States are asked for some additional information in case of any doubts about data quality.

However, due to the complexity, volume and heterogeneity of data sources, quality assurance is based to a large extent on assessing primary sources and processes rather than the final product. Eurostat undertakes EDP dialogue and methodological visits to Member States, during which it reviews issues related to taxes and social contributions data.

A quality assessment procedure is in place that involves arithmetic and quality checks by Eurostat on data received by Member States. In addition, consistency checks are carried out with ESA 2010 Table 2 and the 'detailed national list of taxes and social contributions according to national classification' or 'national tax lists' (NTLs; to be sent alongside Table 0900).

Data on detailed tax and social contribution receipts are used for fiscal policy analysis. 

In addition, more disaggregated tax data submitted to Eurostat (NTLs) are used for the classification of tax revenue according to economic functions (i.e. whether they are raised on consumption, labour or capital) and to determine the level of environmental taxes.

Readers interested in taxation may also find detailed information on the legal form and revenue of the taxes currently in force in the EU Member States in the 'Taxes in Europe' database. 

Not available.

All Member States provide the data. There are only few data gaps.

Data are in general associated with a high level of overall accuracy.

Not available.

Not available.

In accordance with the legal requirements for the transmission of data (ESA 2010 transmission programme), transmission is scheduled at T+9 months after the end of the reference period.

In general the data are delivered according to the deadlines set by legislation.

The underlying methodological framework is the European system of accounts (ESA 2010), which ensures a high degree of comparability.

Please see section 19. Comment on country notes.

EU Member States: In some countries, methodological breaks can affect time series (normally on a temporary basis). Backward calculations of time series are provided to ensure full time coherence. However, methodological changes need not always refer to past data. For some additional information on series breaks please see the caveats in section 19. Comment.

Many variables can be cross-checked with other tables submitted under the ESA 2010 transmission programme (see, Eurostat Reference Database 'national accounts' domain).

Datasets are carefully checked for the internal consistency. Releasing of non-internally consistent data should be exceptional and accompanied by the caveats in Section 19. Comment.

Information not available.

To further specify the general Eurostat revision policy, the following revision policy has been established for government finance statistics.

Revision policy is set at the level of national authorities. In general, the data are revised for the latest years according to change from preliminary to half-finalised and final data sources. The complete time series can be revised due to changes in the methodology or methods of data compilation, correction of errors or in case of major and benchmark revisions. Revisions are accepted at any time and following validation, data is the republished for the country and EU / euro area aggregates concerned. 

Data revisions may occur at any time. Major changes in methodology are the result of legislation, and therefore announced in the Official Journal. However, some changes may be implemented beforehand on the basis of gentlemen's agreements.

All reported errors (once validated) result in corrections of the disseminated data.

Reported errors are corrected in the disseminated data as soon as the correct data have been validated.

Data for specific countries may be published even if they are missing for other countries or flagged as provisional. They are replaced with final data once transmitted and validated. European aggregates are recalculated every time new data is published and are released simultaneously.

Whenever new data are provided and validated, the already disseminated data are updated.

In routine revisions, the length of the time series revised is country-specific and depends on the relevance of source data updates. .

Within each GFS table, aggregates and components are revised at the same time. Between different GFS tables, the update schedule for routine revisions may differ.

As part of routine revisions, temporal consistency (annual/quarterly) is usually established at coinciding transmission deadlines.

While the revision calendar for government finance statistics is described by the scheduled releases indicated on the Eurostat website, revisions can occur at any time.

The impact of routine and major revisions is analysed prior to data validation and documented in metadata in case of notable changes.

Notable time series breaks caused by changes in data sources or incomplete application of a methodological change are flagged. Major revisions remove such breaks in series as far as feasible. .

Major revisions are documented internally and described in metadata and data releases in broad terms.

Coordinated major revisions are pre-announced, though individual countries may undertake additional major revisions. In addition, before and during implementation, major revisions in national accounts are communicated.

Data are based on annual national accounts, primarily derived from administrative and other records of general government. Table 0900 on "Detailed tax and social contribution receipts by type of tax or social contribution and receiving subsector" to be completed by national authorities.

In general, for Table 0900 the collection of the data is annual. Some countries may choose to update data more often.

Once data are compiled by national authorities in the reporting format, they are transmitted in SDMX format to Eurostat and to OECD.

Data are loaded into the Eurostat Reference Database once validated by Eurostat. The validation process consists of arithmetic and quality checks as well as of consistency and coherence checks with ESA 2010 methodology and with other data reported to Eurostat.

Once data are validated by Eurostat they are transmitted to ECB, OECD and other Commission services. 

Accounting conventions are those of ESA 2010.

Time of recording of taxes and social contributions should also be in accordance with Commission Regulation (EC) N° 995/2001 of 22 May 2001 implementing Council and European Parliament Regulation (EC) N° 2516/2000 of 10 July 2000.

Reporting of transactions D.51a, D.51b, D.51c1, D.51c2, D.51c3, D.6111, D.6112, D.6121, D.6122, D.6132, D.6132, D.6141, D.6142, D.613cs and D.613cn is on a voluntary basis.

Data are transmitted in national currency. Eurostat converts into euro using annual average exchange rates.

In releases of data in the second half of October, percentage of GDP calculations for EU countries are based on EDP GDP data submitted to Eurostat. In other releases, updated GDP transmitted in the national accounts transmission programme is used.

EU and euro area series are formed by the aggregation of the country data.

Data are not adjusted.

In addition to Table 0900, countries must provide a full detailed list of national taxes with ESA 2010 codes (NTLs). 

Country footnotes: