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Germany's Company Tax Reform Act of 2008

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  • Stefan Homburg

Abstract

The article outlines Germany's recent company tax reform. The act will become effective from January 1st, 2008, except for some minor points and for companies with an alternative fiscal year. The description comprises the reduction in the corporate income tax rate, repeal of declining-balance depreciation, changes in the trade tax, and tighter rules regarding transfer prices and loss deduction. Close attention is paid to new instruments such as the interest limitation, preferential treatment of retentions, and the final withholding tax. The paper provides political background, evaluates the changes economically, andputs them in legal and international perspectives.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Homburg, 2007. "Germany's Company Tax Reform Act of 2008," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 63(4), pages 591-612, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:mhr:finarc:urn:sici:0015-2218(200712)63:4_591:gctrao_2.0.tx_2-9
    DOI: 10.1628/001522107X269041
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    Cited by:

    1. Aria Ardalan & Sebastian G. Kessing & Salmai Qari & Malte Zoubek, 2023. "Does capital bear the burden of local corporate taxes? Evidence from Germany," Volkswirtschaftliche Diskussionsbeiträge 194-23, Universität Siegen, Fakultät Wirtschaftswissenschaften, Wirtschaftsinformatik und Wirtschaftsrecht.
    2. Stefan Boeters, 2013. "Optimal Tax Progressivity in Unionised Labour Markets: Simulation Results for Germany," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 41(4), pages 447-474, April.
    3. Langenmayr Dominika, 2015. "Limiting Profit Shifting in a Model with Heterogeneous Firm Productivity," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 15(4), pages 1657-1677, October.
    4. Sven Stöwhase, 2013. "How Profit Shifting May Increase the Tax Burden of Multinationals: A Simple Model with Discrete Investment Choices," Journal of Public Economic Theory, Association for Public Economic Theory, vol. 15(2), pages 185-207, April.
    5. Richard Ochmann, 2014. "Differential income taxation and household asset allocation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(8), pages 880-894, March.
    6. Dreßler, Daniel & Scheuering, Uwe, 2012. "Empirical evaluation of interest barrier effects," ZEW Discussion Papers 12-046, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Schock, Matthias Malte, 2019. "Steuerreformvorschläge des Mirrlees Committee und der Stiftung Marktwirtschaft [Tax Reform Proposals of the Mirrlees Committee and the Stiftung Marktwirtschaft]," MPRA Paper 96689, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Andreas Haufler & Frank Stähler, 2013. "Tax Competition In A Simple Model With Heterogeneous Firms: How Larger Markets Reduce Profit Taxes," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(2), pages 665-692, May.
    9. Rumpf, Dominik, 2011. "The dividends received deduction in the corporate income tax and cost of capital," Working Papers 01/2011, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    10. Michael Overesch & Dennis Voeller, 2010. "The Impact of Personal and Corporate Taxation on Capital Structure Choices," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 66(3), pages 263-294, September.
    11. Leibrecht, Markus & Rixen, Thomas, 2020. "Double Tax Avoidance and Tax Competition for Mobile Capital," SocArXiv dgw5k, Center for Open Science.
    12. Manfred Rose & Daniel Zöller, 2012. "Abzug von Eigenkapitalzinsen als Betriebsausgaben – ein steuersystematischer Beitrag zur Krisenabsicherung von Unternehmen," Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 13(3), pages 214-238, August.
    13. Marc Steffen Rapp & Bernhard Schwetzler, 2008. "Equilibrium Security Prices with Capital Income Taxes and an Exogenous Interest Rate," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 64(3), pages 334-351, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    business taxes; German income tax;

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • M10 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - General
    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing

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