IEDZĪVOTĀJU IENĀKUMA NODOKLIS ES VALSTĪS.

In the recent 30 years the structure and development of the tax systems of European countries has shown the peculiarities of the European Union in comparison with the main international experiences outside the Europe (USA and Japan) and in a wider comparison with the area of the OECD. A tax burden is higher on average in the area of the EU than in the area of the OECD; the European countries rely more on social contributions and less on consumption taxes; a larger part of tax revenues is allocated to the social security sector and a smaller part to the local governments; labour taxes and their contribution to the total tax revenues is higher in Europe than in the OECD. The Paper deals with the structure of the tax systems of individual old European countries, as well as the prospects of development of the personal income tax within the framework of ensuring horizontal and vertical equity. The tax system of any country must ensure the increase of the level of population's welfare, which is shown also by the indices of GDP per capita. Suggestions are given about experiences of which countries should be taken into account to improve the quality of life of the Latvian rural and urban population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]