Taxation

German real property tax reform – simple, socially equitable and compatible with the constitution

The German cabinet and the CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups have adopted draft legislation to reform Germany’s real property tax. The aim is to make the tax simple, socially equitable and compatible with the constitution. Real property tax revenue will continue to accrue to the local authorities. Generating more revenue is not the objective of the reform.

External Tax Relations

This page offers information on German legislation relating to external tax relations, especially transfer pricing. It provides working translations of a range of documents in the field of external tax relations legislation.

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International tax law

Germany aims to prevent both the double taxation and the double non-taxation of individuals and companies. Everyone has to pay their fair share of tax – in their place of residence or where they conduct their business activities.

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Fiscal Code

Working translation of the Fiscal Code (Abgabenordnung), which brings together the rules applying to all taxes as a compendium of general tax law. The Fiscal Code sets out the basic rules on how a tax is determined, to whom the tax applies, and when the tax is to be paid.

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16 September 2019

Taxes: an international comparison

This article provides basic international comparisons of certain major tax types. The comparisons cover the member states of the European Union plus several additional advanced economies (the United States, Canada, Japan, Switzerland and Norway) and generally reflect the state of the law in these countries as of end 2018.

20 May 2019

Simplifying tax assessment for non-resident pensioners

The Retirement Income Act, which came into effect on 1 January 2005, changed the way pensions are taxed. As a result of these changes, more and more pensioners are liable to pay tax, even if they live outside Germany. In the past, dealing with pensioners living abroad posed special challenges for the revenue administration, not least due to language barriers.

27 March 2019

Germany and Netherlands reaffirm their commitment to combating tax avoidance

On 27 March 2019, German finance minister Olaf Scholz met Menno Snel, State Secretary for Finance at the Dutch Ministry of Finance. In a joint statement, the two countries reaffirmed their commitment to combating tax avoidance by agreeing and implementing the OECD and EU standards on base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS).