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Gunter Grittmann
Head of Information and Communication
E-mail: grittmann@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-132
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-255
Kathrin Böhmer
Public Relations Officer
E-mail: boehmer@zew.de
Phone: +49 (0)621-1235-103
Fax: +49 (0)621-1235-255
A Common Corporate Tax Base (CC(C)TB) as proposed by the European Commission in 2011 is an appropriat to replace the existing determination of corporate taxable income under national tax rules in the member states. A CC(C)TB will make it easier and more convenient to do business in Europe and sets a reasonable starting point for tax harmonisation in Europe. This is the main conclusion of a comprehensive study issued today in Brussels. The study conducted by a research consortium of Ernst & Young, the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and the University of Mannheim shows that differences between the Commission's proposal and prevailing tax accounting practices are rather small. In fact, the tax burden of EU based businesses would remain, on an EU-27 average, largely unchanged (-0.06 per cent) if a common tax base would be adopted. read more
By entering the third phase of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (2013-2020), some German federal states and some cities or councils will have to pay dearly. As of 2013 a considerable share of emission certificates will not be distributed free of charge, but will be auctioned off instead. Thus, companies that are legally bound to participate in emissions trading will have to spend considerably more money in the future for emitting carbon dioxide. It is expected that the firms’ pricing for their products will remain unaffected. read more
Hong Kong and Singapore are the particularly attractive for German investors due to tax reasons. For foreign direct investments, German investors only have to shoulder an effective tax burden of 11.8 percent in Hong Kong and 17.3 percent in Singapore. However, on average, taxes are higher for German investors in the Asia/Pacific region, India and Russia than domestic investments in Germany. These are the findings of a recently published study conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) and the University of Oxford. The study analyses the tax burden on German and US-American direct investments in the Asia-Pacific region, India and Russia. read more
The Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) welcomes the tax relief for companies, which is implemented in the Citizens Relief Act (Bürgerentlastungsgesetz). The tax benefits were passed by the finance committee at the end of May and will be available only for a limited period of time to help companies, which are affected by the financial crisis and facing decreasing profits and liquidity problems. The German government reacts on the just criticism of certain parts of the 2008 business tax reform, which isolates a company’s tax burden from the actual profit situation and thus intervenes in the company’s substance. read more
Some EU member states try to attract investors with reduced corporate tax rates, which might lead to a harmful tax competition in the European Union (EU). For this reason, the introduction of a Europe-wide minimum taxation for businesses is up for discussion. However, the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) fail to agree on whether this measure would be reasonable. This is the result of a survey conducted by the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) among Members of the European Parliament. The survey also shows that the opinions on a minimum tax rate highly depend on political party affiliation, nationality and the educational background of the MEPs. read more
Restricting the tax deductibility of interest expenses will result in a markedly lower degree of indebtedness of multinational corporations, thus raising taxable profits. At the same time, however, companies’ investment decisions react much more sensitively to tax rates at locations that restrict the deductibility of interest for tax purposes. This is shown by empirical research, based on comprehensive data on German foreign direct investment, that was jointly conducted by researchers at the Ifo Institute, Munich and the Centre for European Economic Research, Mannheim. read more
As a new element of its homepage the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW) in Mannheim, Germany, has set up a comprehensive taxation platform at: www.zew.de/en/publikationen/taxation read more