In Germany, there are four different legal structures for employer-sponsored pension plans. Tax treatment at the firm level as well as at the level of the employee or pensioner differs between these four vehicles. This article evaluates and compares the tax benefit from comparable plans within...

This paper carries out an analysis of individual profitability of life insurance in form of endowment policies which have been very popular in Germany for several decades. We integrate taxes, transaction costs and the possibility of early termination into a model of capital budgeting. The aim of...

Recently, there have been various proposals in Germany to exempt interest income of individuals from progressive income taxation, and to levy a flat source tax, instead. The isolated introduction of a flat tax on interest income would have a significant effect on all investment and financing...

This paper discusses how payments from and contributions to a life annuity or a pension scheme can be taxed decision neutrally in the context of a classical income tax. We use the concept of "economic income" in the sense of Johansson and Samuelson. Within the framework of an economic analysis...