In a review of corporate tax rates at the beginning of 2007 in 92 countries, it said the average rate in the EU was 24.2 per cent, compared with 27.8 per cent in the OECD countries, 28 per cent in Latin America and 30.1 per cent in Asia-Pacific. Some countries have made significant cuts, such as Turkey’s reduction from 30 per cent to 20 per cent and Bulgaria’s reduction by 5 per cent to 10 per cent. There are also reductions in the pipeline from Germany, Spain, the UK, Singapore, China and possibly in France, which should be reflected in future KPMG surveys.

KPMG said the trend among countries was to cut corporate taxes and increase indirect taxes. “The survey underlines the increasing importance of indirect taxes as a revenue gathering strategy in many countries with a tendency among competing nations to reduce corporate taxes to attract investment and shore up shortfall .