Thema: Zur Einbindung der Kapitalbesteuerung in ein rationales Steuersystem

Abstract

Abstract In the paper of Stefan Homburg recent proposals for capital income tax reform are considered. The analysis focusses on German taxes, but experiences from abroad as well as the European Savings Directive are also taken into account. Given the present complexity of capital income taxation, the crucial question is whether or not Germany should adopt a dual income tax. After considering questions of distributive justice, tax yield, efficiency, and compliance, the article advocates in favour of a comprehensive income tax, combined with a strengthening of tax audit, and rejects the idea of a dual income tax. Manfred Rose und Daniel Zöller state that the taxation of interest-adjusted income from capital means that tax is levied only on the part of income generated by the investment of savings capital that exceeds a normal market rate of interest. As enterprise profits also constitute capital income, interest adjustment (i.e. allowance for corporate equity) here means that a normal market rate of interest on equity capital can be deducted as a business expense. In the following article Rose and Zöller assess the future prospects for such a form of taxation of income from capital by considering its advantages over the comprehensive taxation of capital income in accordance with the traditional concept of income taxation. Furthermore, in order to create as quickly as possible a favourable tax environment for investments at locations in Germany, they present the outlines of a transitional model for the taxation of interest-adjusted income from capital. From Joachim Genser’s point of view the main problem is that taxing capital income at a flat rate contrasts with progressive income taxation of comprehensive income under the ability-to-pay principle. He argues that the dual-income-tax principle is well founded in the theory of taxation and thereby provides a justification for schedular taxation of capital and labor income as well as for combining proportional capital taxation and progressive labor taxation. Finally, besides the attractive features of a dual income tax, he also addresses the problems of dual income tax administration and its social acceptance.