Tax Reforms in the New EU Member Countries from Central and Eastern Europe – Premises, Main Trends and Perspectives

The present paper examines the tax reforms undertaken by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe during the transition to market economy. The paper begins with a review of the main driving forces of reforms in these countries – the integration to the European Union and speeding up of economic growth. The CEEC rearranged their tax systems after the pattern of EU member states, including through the introduction of the same tax instruments on income and consumption and the harmonization of their tax legislation in line with the requirements of the acquis communautaire. Despite their orientation towards the EU, the tax systems of the CEEC have acquired specific features due to the initial socio-economic conditions and the necessity to catch up with the EU countries. In the second part of the paper some trends are analyzed that display in all CEEC, albeit with different intensity - reduction of the progressivity of the PIT, significant lowering of the CIT rate, reduction of the differentiation of VAT rates, increase of the share of excise taxes and eco-taxes in total budget revenues and reforms of the social security systems. In the last part of the paper the main results of the reforms are summarized and the possible future directions of tax reforms in the CEEC are outlined.