Revenue was higher for all important types of levies last year, with revenue from various taxes rising by as much as EUR 950m or 6.8%, FURS said as it presented its preliminary data on Monday.

The final report will be published in early February.

Social security contributions, pouring into the Pension and Disability Insurance Institute (ZPIZ), the Health Insurance Institute (ZZZS) and to some extent to the national budget, were up by EUR 300m or 6.5% to over EUR 6bn.

Particularly encouraging is the almost 11% growth in the collected personal income tax and corporate tax. Companies paid EUR 167m more in corporate tax (a 27.8% rise from 2016), and individuals paid EUR 118m more in income tax (a 5.7% rise).

Revenue from taxes on goods and services was up by EUR 274m or 5.2% and from VAT by 6.8% or EUR 221m. FURS also collected 2.2% or EUR 34m more in excise duties.

The share of levies collected without enforcement action has been increasing. Considering the non-paid active tax debt from the last 10 years and the debts recovered, as much as 95% of the levies was paid without enforcement action last year.

"The improved tax culture is mainly a reflection of the economic growth, but definitely also of FURS's efforts to improve the service for taxpayers and increase the automatic data exchange, which allows for easier calculations," FURS said.

Tax debt has been decreasing in absolute terms since 2013, having reached EUR 1.267bn at the end of last year, which is 4.1% or EUR 55.7m less than at the end of 2016.