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It revealed that the UK's tax burden, paid largely by hardworking families, will this year be bigger than Germany's for the first time in a generation.
Germany has long been seen as a high taxation economy, funding heavy public spending and massive bureaucracy.
Since Margaret Thatcher's Conservative administration Britain has prided itself on keeping taxes low while freeing businesses of regulation.
But after their 1997 victory New Labour launched a programme of public investment, part-funded by stealth taxes. The report is an analysis by Bank of America of figures published recently by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
It predicts Britain's taxes will hit 42.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year - higher than Germany for the first time in recent history. The figure for Germany, a huge economy but one which has struggled with high unemployment, will be 42.1%.
In 1999 German taxes came to 46.4% of GDP, compared to 40.4% in the UK.
Holger Schmieding, chief European economist at Bank of America, said: 'Anybody who believes Germany is high tax, big government and that Britain is lean and low tax, may want to look at these figures.
'As Britain squanders some of its post-Thatcherite advantage and the Continent embraces some reforms, the two sides of the Channel are becoming much more similar again.'
Last week the Chancellor was criticised by the European Commission for breaking targets on borrowing. Britain's deficit has been 3.2% of national income for two years - higher than the EC's 3%limit.
A Treasury spokesman said yesterday: 'If you look at the average family in the UK, or the average business, what you find is that they are starting from a better position than their German counterparts. And they're being taxed less.'
The Treasury claims their calculations show the tax burden to be lower than the Bank of America's figures. But last night they were unable to reveal their figures.
The report coincides with the publication of The Bumper Book Of Government Waste: The Scandal Of The Squandered Billions.
Authors Matthew Elliott and Lee Rotherham accused Mr Brown of 'presiding over the greatest waste of taxpayers' money in British history'.
Amen.
It revealed that the UK's tax burden, paid largely by hardworking families, will this year be bigger than Germany's for the first time in a generation.
Germany has long been seen as a high taxation economy, funding heavy public spending and massive bureaucracy.
Since Margaret Thatcher's Conservative administration Britain has prided itself on keeping taxes low while freeing businesses of regulation.
But after their 1997 victory New Labour launched a programme of public investment, part-funded by stealth taxes. The report is an analysis by Bank of America of figures published recently by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
It predicts Britain's taxes will hit 42.4% of gross domestic product (GDP) this year - higher than Germany for the first time in recent history. The figure for Germany, a huge economy but one which has struggled with high unemployment, will be 42.1%.
In 1999 German taxes came to 46.4% of GDP, compared to 40.4% in the UK.
Holger Schmieding, chief European economist at Bank of America, said: 'Anybody who believes Germany is high tax, big government and that Britain is lean and low tax, may want to look at these figures.
'As Britain squanders some of its post-Thatcherite advantage and the Continent embraces some reforms, the two sides of the Channel are becoming much more similar again.'
Last week the Chancellor was criticised by the European Commission for breaking targets on borrowing. Britain's deficit has been 3.2% of national income for two years - higher than the EC's 3%limit.
A Treasury spokesman said yesterday: 'If you look at the average family in the UK, or the average business, what you find is that they are starting from a better position than their German counterparts. And they're being taxed less.'
The Treasury claims their calculations show the tax burden to be lower than the Bank of America's figures. But last night they were unable to reveal their figures.
The report coincides with the publication of The Bumper Book Of Government Waste: The Scandal Of The Squandered Billions.
Authors Matthew Elliott and Lee Rotherham accused Mr Brown of 'presiding over the greatest waste of taxpayers' money in British history'.
Amen.
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