German States Plan to Reduce Tax Privileges, Sueddeutsche Says

Germany’s states plan to abolish a rule that grants certain tax privileges to domestic corporations, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported, citing a document prepared for a meeting of state leaders in the upper house of parliament on July 6.

The changes would force German corporations to pay tax on dividends and capital gains in shareholdings of less than 10 percent, the newspaper cited the document as saying.

The upper house, the Bundesrat, is responding to a European Court of Justice ruling establishing that German legislation discriminates against foreign corporations, the newspaper said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Rainer Buergin in Berlin at rbuergin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net