Steuerharmonisierung oder Steuerwettbewerb?

It is often proposed that capital income tax rates be harmonized. Otherwise, a “race to the bottom” will occur and lead to governments not being able to perform their usual tasks. However, the development of corporate income tax revenues in relation to GDP does not indicate that a race to the bottom has actually taken place. If tax competition were to become as fierce as some observers seem to fear, this would not at all be disadvantageous. Inefficiencies in the public sector and government expenditures would be reduced, the tax burden would decrease. Tax competition might lead to the adoption of improved tax systems. The danger of an undersupply of public goods is not really a real one. A harmful erosion of the welfare state has not to be expected.