Finding a New Corporate Tax Base After the Abolishment of the One-Book System in EU Member States

Posted: 8 Jul 2009

See all articles by Sebastian Schanz

Sebastian Schanz

University of Bielefeld

Deborah Schanz

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management)

Date Written: July 8, 2009

Abstract

Due to the implementation of international financial reporting standards in the European Union, member states with uniform accounting are expected to replace their current one-book system with a two-book system, which will separate tax accounting and financial accounting. This separation presents the challenge of defining a new tax base. Since a tax base is not required to provide information that helps users in economic decision making, tax accounting can be simplified compared to financial accounting. This paper discusses possible future tax bases of German companies. We develop a business model simulation based on empirical data to quantify the change in the tax burden of different industries induced by alternative tax accounting regulations. We identify a simplified tax base that avoids major shifts in the tax burden. Thus, the paper provides useful information for economists and politicians who make decisions about the new German tax accounting regulations. Moreover, this tax base and the identified drivers of sector-specific tax payments form an important basis for the discussion in other EU member states that face a comparable phase-out of one-book accounting.

Keywords: Uniform accounting, separate accounting, one-book system, two-book system, tax accounting, tax base, EU member states, Germany

JEL Classification: H25, M41

Suggested Citation

Schanz, Sebastian and Schanz, Deborah, Finding a New Corporate Tax Base After the Abolishment of the One-Book System in EU Member States (July 8, 2009). European Accounting Review, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1431363

Sebastian Schanz

University of Bielefeld ( email )

Universitätsstraße 25
Bielefeld, NRW 33613
Germany
+49 521 106-5113 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.wiwi.uni-bielefeld.de/atf

Deborah Schanz (Contact Author)

Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich - Faculty of Business Administration (Munich School of Management) ( email )

Ludwigstr. 28 RG IV
Munich, Bavaria 80539
Germany
+49 (0) 89 / 2180 - 3681 (Phone)
+49 (0) 89 / 2180 - 3874 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.en.steuern.bwl.uni-muenchen.de/index.html

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