The Estonian Tax and Customs Board collected about EUR 1.3 billion in tax revenue for the state budget in August, EUR 19 million more than in the same month last year, the board said in its monthly overview. In its words, "Tax revenue increased primarily due to higher receipts from social tax and VAT."
VAT brought in more than EUR 375 million, up EUR 20 million on a year earlier, with retail trade, agriculture and public administration and defence the largest contributors. The board links part of the increase to VAT on retail sales of motor fuel.
Social tax rose to EUR 450 million as the wage fund grew by 6.2 percent year on year. Personal income tax came to more than EUR 241 million, EUR 24 million less than a year earlier, which the board connects to the change in how the basic exemption is calculated since the start of the year.
Corporate income tax was about EUR 67 million, EUR 5.8 million less than last August. The largest amounts of income tax on dividends were declared in manufacturing, in wholesale and retail trade and in professional, scientific and technical activities. Fuel excise revenue was a little lower, while tobacco excise rose after the higher rates introduced at the start of the year.
Source: Estonian Tax and Customs Board, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
For an Estonian company owner the figures are a reminder of which taxes the business actually meets each month: social tax follows the payroll and grows with wages, and income tax on dividends appears in the month profit is paid out. Keeping the books current makes it possible to see those amounts in advance instead of discovering them at the declaration.
Our monthly accounting keeps an Estonian company's books and declarations current so the owner sees the taxes ahead. Monthly accounting