Die Bedeutung der Körperschaftssteuer: Theoretische Überlegungen, die internationale Entwicklung und die Schweiz

Taking into account that international tax competition is going stronger, first arguments in favour of abolishing corporate income taxation or even any capital income taxation are presented. Second, the arguments in favour of capital income taxation and especially of corporate income taxation are discussed. There, we also consider those arguments which explain differences in the behaviour of ‘small' compared to ‘big' countries. Then, we describe the recent international development of corporate income taxation and especially the Swiss situation in the international corporate income tax competition. That the burden of those taxes is still rather low in Switzerland does, however, not imply that there is no need for a reform of business taxation. Thus, we finally point to some areas where reforms might be indicated and we also discuss the problem of capital income taxation somewhat more generally.