Steuern im Digitalen Zeitalter – CANCELLED

NOTE: Unfortunately, this event is cancelled.

The ever-increasing digitalisation of virtually every aspect of our daily lives has far-reaching effects on the working world and the economy. Tax systems also face considerable challenges, the central question being how companies with digital business models ought to be taxed appropriately, as their tax burden is often too low with regards to public perception. The recent controversy between the United States and France illustrates the international scope of this issue and the potential tension arising from it.

The complexity of taxing companies with digital business models lies in the fact that it is often difficult to determine where companies generate their added value and their profits, a phenomenon exacerbated by the multinational orientation of these companies, and the already strong international tax competition. There are various reform proposals for addressing this problem, above all from the OECD and the EU Commission, which, in addition to general measures for curbing aggressive tax planning, include a separate treatment of digital companies.

This general topic as well as its reform proposals hit on a highly relevant but tense area of business and society. On the one hand, there is the desire for a socially acceptable and fair tax system in which all companies are taxed according to their actual profits. But on the other hand, the demand to meet the needs of innovative and mobile companies when designing tax systems of the future remains strong.

It is exactly these contrasting demands that we would like to discuss in a joint event from the Leibniz ScienceCampus, MannheimTaxation, ZEW Mannheim, and the Representation of the State of Baden-Württemberg to the Federal Government.

After an introductory lecture by Edith Sitzmann, Minister of Finance of the State of Baden-Württemberg, and a keynote lecture by Professor Christoph Spengel (University of Mannheim), there will be a spirited panel discussion with high-ranking representatives from politics, business, and science. A subsequent informal reception will facilitate further discussion.