Читать книгу German Profit Taxes - Christoph Freichel - Страница 20

A tax threshold is the part of the assessment basis up to the maximum value of which taxes are not levied. If the tax threshold is exceeded, the entire assessment basis shall be subjected to taxation. The tax threshold on private sales transactions of € 600 in accordance with Sec. 23 (3) sent. 5 of the German Income Tax Act (Einkommensteuergesetz – EStG) is the classic example. The intended purpose of the tax threshold is to relieve the tax administration which should not be bothered with insignificant amounts.

A tax allowance remains tax free regardless of the amount forming the assessment basis. It is an amount that can be deducted in the calculation of the tax base, but which is generally only granted to the extent that it does not cause the assessment basis to be below zero. An example is the basis tax allowance of € 9,000 in accordance with Sec. 32a (1) sent. 2 no. 1 EStG that exempts the taxpayer’s subsistence level from taxation. On account of the progressive character of personal income tax, tax allowances benefit taxpayers with high income more than taxpayers with low income because, when earning a higher income, the resulting reduction of the assessment basis and the tax rate is larger than it is when less income is earned.

A deductible amount is not deducted from the assessment basis but rather directly from the tax debt. In doing so, it directly reduces the amount of taxes to be paid. While the tax allowance leads to more relief in a progressive tax scale with an increasing assessment basis, the deductible amounts provide relief to all taxpayers to the same degree and are thus perceived as more just. An example for a deductible amount is the deduction of donations to political parties by natural persons amounting to 50 % of the expenditures, at most € 825 (cf. Sec. 34g sent. 1 no. 1 and sent. 2 EStG).