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Tax Cut Approved

DW staff (win)July 6, 2007

Germany's upper house of parliament, the Bundesrat, on Friday approved a corporate tax rate cut from about 39 percent to 30 percent. The change will take effect in 2008, but won't save businesses a lot of money.

https://p.dw.com/p/BDKV
The reform will leave more money with companies -- at least for nowImage: dpa
Germany's lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, had already passed the change in May. From 2008, the corporate tax rate will now be lowered from 38.7 percent to 29.8 percent, taking Germany from its current position as one of the EU countries with the highest rates to the middle field.

The grand coalition government of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats hope that the change will make Germany more attractive to investors and help keep Germany's economic recovery on track.

As a result of the change, companies will be able to cut their tax bills by about 25 million euros ($34 billion). At the same time, however, the government hopes that it will make up for the lost revenue by eliminating tax breaks and loopholes.