Unternehmenssteuern und überperiodischer Verlustausgleich - Ein Vierländervergleich?

As the tax burden on incorporated companies in Germany is relatively high in international comparision, the Federal Government wants to reduce the nominal tax rates for these companies, where possible without resulting in a long-term net relief. The tax rate reduction is to be financed by expanding the tax base, for example by placing restrictions on the inter-temporal offsetting of losses. The following presents an isolated comparision of the effects of the offsetting rules and the nominal tax rates in Germany, Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. The comparision is based on corporation tax statistics showing the structure of the profits and losses carried over as well as their frequency distribution with regard to German incorporated companies. For most German incorporated companies the cash value of the overall tax bill, taking into account occasional losses, is currently lower in comparision with the three other countries despite higher nominal tax rates. The reason for this can be found in the intertemporal loss offsetting rules, which overcompensate for the high nominal tax burden in Germany. This result should be kept in mind so that the tax burden on weaker-performing companies in Germany does not increase despite the lower tax rates.(Original text only available in german language)