Life Goes On: The Second Life of the German Trade Tax

‘‘Old taxes are good taxes’’ might have been theconviction of the German lawmakers that supportedthe German trade tax. The survival of this tax wasanything but certain, because in late 2005 measureshad already been taken for the tax’s farewell ceremony.Newspaper stories announced the demise ofthe sick patient with only one short period left.Practitioners uttered a silent sigh along with acheer. And lawmakers were poised to bury the Germantrade tax, which is a source of complexity anddifficulty in German tax law. Even the timing for thefuneral was foreseeable: the Tax Reform 2008.[...]