Tax Policy Platform
The Commission Presents Its Assessment with the Tax Policy Platform
The Tax Code Commission has established six criteria to serve as a benchmark by which to measure the success of a fundamentally renewed, sustainable German tax system:
The tax system must be comprehensible to the public, be accepted as socially well-balanced, and compliance with the system must cost taxpayers as little time as possible.
The tax system must be internationally competitive.
The tax system must improve the competitiveness of Germany and that of enterprises active within the country, and must disencumber both from superfluous government control, most specifically from the bureaucracy.
The tax system must strengthen the autonomy of municipalities, within which there should be a broader and steadier base and stream of revenues.
Though if necessary, in the early phases, the tax system may require a moderate amount of initial financing from the federal and state governments, over the medium to long term, it must install powerful stimuli for growth, which will lead to greater fiscal revenue and less welfare spending.
The tax system must, for all parties involved, be comprehensible and predictable, put into place genuine incentives for individual ambition and responsibility, guarantee a sound legal environment for private economic planning, and through the realization of these goals inspire trust for investment and economic activity.