Ist die Zunahme der Staatsverschuldung ein Problem und ist es sinnvoll und möglich, die Staatsschulden zu tilgen? Manfred Overhaus, ehemals Staatssekretär im Bundesministerium der Finanzen, stellt ein Konzept vor, das die im Grundgesetz verankerte Schuldenbremse in eine Schuldentilgung, die...

The obvious difference in the economic performance of countries has led to the question why some countries are so much wealthier than others, and whether the size, the structure, and the organisation of the public sector contribute to cross-country income and growth gaps. Public sector...

The budget proposal for 2005 is mainly characterised by the tax cuts effected by the 2004-05 tax reform. Together with the budgetary effects of the stimulus packages, which were introduced as a counter-measure to the weak economic growth during the past three years, they will increase the...

The tax reform 2004-05 includes tax cuts within income taxation (€ –2.2 billion) and corporate taxation (€ –1.1 billion) as well as increases of several excise taxes (€ +232 million). It is realised in two steps: the first tax reform package, taking effect in 2004, was adopted by the...

In view of the fact that extensive tax relief measures have been envisaged for the tax reform of 2004-05, and since the economy continues its modest growth rate, the federal government decided to postpone its goal of achieving a "zero deficit" beyond 2007.

One important element of the Austrian tax reform 2004-05 is the reduction of the corporate tax rate from 34 percent to 25 percent as of 2005. In cutting the corporate tax rate the government has reacted to the tax cuts implemented in a number of the accession countries in the run-up to the...

In December 2007, the new Revenue-sharing Act (Finanzausgleichsgesetz, FAG) 2008 was passed after negotia-tions between the revenue-sharing partners were completed ahead of schedule. Thus, the agreement on the sys-tem of federal fiscal relations in place since 2005 has been replaced by a new...

In late 2004, a new revenue sharing system and a new stability pact for Austria were adopted for the period from 2005 to 2008. The new Austrian stability pact aims at reducing the Maastricht-relevant overall government deficit from 1.9 percent of GDP to a "zero deficit" in 2008. The federal...

Austria's budget policy continues to face challenges that are difficult to reconcile. On the one hand the additional revenues and the expenditure savings in the wake of the economic upswing should be used for the consolidation of the public budgets. On the other, Austria still has to confront...

These days most infrastructure investment is no longer carried out by governments, but by the private sector or off-budget public corporations. This makes it harder to capture overall infrastructure investment, which plays a major role in stimulating growth and employment, as well as enhancing a...