In Germany, local authorities charge supply companies with concession dues on gas, water, and electricity (Konzessionsabgaben), which are similar to some local taxes (e.g., local business tax, real property tax). Because these local taxes have already been included in the German fiscal...

Many countries levy local business taxes. In Germany, the ‘‘Gewerbesteuer‘‘ is the main source of local governments’ tax revenue. If there is local taxation of businesses, liberal professionals and farmers should not be treated differently from business enterprises, as it is the case...

The German states Bavaria and Hesse have initiated a legal case against the German fiscal equalisation system. The German Federal Constitutional Court has already made rulings concerning this system on three occasions, and thus this new case is not expected to result in major changes....

The Commission of the European Union (EU) has made a new proposal regarding the multiannual fi nancial framework through 2020. Raising expenditures with high added value for the EU (e.g. a trans-European transport network) is one important target of the proposal. Another important issue is a...

Verschiedene Modelle zur Reform der Gemeindefinanzen schlagen die Abschaffung der Gewerbesteuer und die Einführung eines Zuschlags zur Einkommen - und Körperschaftsteuer vor. Vor allem Kernstädte werden dadurch höher belastet. Welche Belastungen kommen dort auf die einzelnen Bürger und die...

Die Gewerbesteuer stellt in der gegenwärtigen Ausgestaltung ein spezielles deutsches Problem im Rahmen der Unternehmensbesteuerung dar. Kurzfristig wurde als Lösungsansatz die pauschalierte Verrechung der Gewerbesteuer mit der Einkommensteuer bei Personengesellschaften und Einzelunternehmen...

Taxing local business is a common feature of local public finance in many countries. The German local business tax (Gewerbesteuer) is the main tax revenue source of municipalities in Germany. Liberal professionals, however, have traditionally been exempted from it. In the past, the German...

With the 2008 reform of business taxation (Unternehmensteuerreform 2008) a preferential treatment of retained earnings for non-incorporated companies was introduced: Earnings may be retained at a preferential tax rate (29.8%) and will be subjected to supplementary tax (26.4%) when they will be...