Taxation of capital income in Austria, Germany and Switzerland
Arqus Quantitative Tax Research Discussion Paper No. 16
33 Pages Posted: 21 Dec 2007
Date Written: March 2006
Abstract
In this paper we compare the taxation of capital income in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Because of the three level taxation in Switzerland, Zug and Zurich are chosen as representative cantons and communities. First the national legal frameworks are described before the absolute tax payment is computed in the case of a resident individual whose income consists of exclusively interest payments, dividends, and speculative gains, respectively. Except of speculative gains of privately held stakes, no reduced tax rate is applicable to dividend and interest income in the two Swiss cantons considered. In Germany only dividends and speculative gains are taxed with lower tax rates than on other income. In Austria the full tax rate is due on speculative gains, whereas a reduced definite taxation exists for dividends and interest income. Furthermore for dividends only half of the average tax rate is applicable if assessment is chosen. Therefore the lowest tax payments concerning interest income are realized in Austria for high income, for low income taxation in Zug is the lowest, because of the low marginal tax rates for low income. In case of dividends, the lowest tax payment is achieved in Germany because of the half-income system and the relatively high personal allowance and standard deductions. Highest total tax payment is realized in Zug and Zurich. Concerning speculative income Zug and Zurich are the best choice, because speculative income is not taxed at all. The highest total tax for speculative income is due in Austria.
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