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Has German Business Income Taxation Raised too Little Revenue over the Last Decades?

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  • Stefan Bach

Abstract

This study presents comprehensive macroeconomic measures on the revenue from business taxation in Germany. A comparison of the tax base reported in tax statistics with the corporate income derived from national accounts gives hints to considerable tax base erosion. The high weight of reported tax losses underlines this result. The average implicit tax rate on corporate income was around 21 percent since 2001, and thus falling considerably short of statutory tax rates and effective tax rates discussed in the literature. For lack of detailed accounting data it is hard to give precise reasons for the presumptive tax base erosion.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Bach, 2013. "Has German Business Income Taxation Raised too Little Revenue over the Last Decades?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1303, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1303
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    Cited by:

    1. Bartels, Charlotte, 2019. "Top Incomes in Germany, 1871–2014," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 79(3), pages 669-707, September.
    2. Fiscalis Tax Gap Project Group, 2016. "The concept of tax gaps - Report on VAT Gap Estimations," Taxation Studies 0065, Directorate General Taxation and Customs Union, European Commission.
    3. Sarah Godar, 2018. "Tax Haven Investors and Corporate Profitability - Evidence of Profit Shifting by German-Based Affiliates of Multinational Firms," Working Papers IES 2018/12, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Dec 2018.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Business income taxation; implicit tax rates; tax base erosion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H25 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Business Taxes and Subsidies
    • H26 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Tax Evasion and Avoidance
    • H22 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Incidence

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