The federal Treasurer, Peter Costello, says Australia is the eighth-lowest taxing country among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development nations.
The finding is contained in a 400-page report released by Mr Costello, which he commissioned more than a month ago.
Mr Costello says the only way to compare different countries' taxation levels is by accumulating all forms of tax and comparing them as proportions of Gross Domestic Product.
"The report that's been done by Messrs Warburton and Hendy finds that Australia's overall tax-to-GDP ratio is 31.6 per cent, and that Australia is a low-tax country by comparison with the developed economies of the world."