Business tax rate
The trade tax is a term from financial policy. It serves to make municipalities with different assessment rates and different populations comparable with regard to their trade tax .
calculation
The absolute trade tax rate is determined by dividing the trade tax revenue of a municipality by the actual assessment rate and multiplying it with a standardized assessment rate. This standardized rate is usually the average rate of the federal state. When comparing across several federal states, a standardized rate of 250% is often chosen. Of course, a standardized tax rate of 100% can also be applied.
In order to make municipalities of different sizes comparable, the absolute trade tax rate is divided by the number of inhabitants. This enables a statement to be made relative to the residents.
example
The values from Cologne and Stuttgart from 2009 serve as an example:
| Cologne | Stuttgart | |
|---|---|---|
| Business tax revenue 2009 | 783,188 T € | 679,871 T € | 
| actual assessment rate 2009 | 450% | 420% | 
| standardized rate of assessment | 250% | 250% | 
| absolute trade tax rate | 435,104 T € | 404,685 T € | 
| population | 1,019,328 | 592.915 | 
| relative trade tax rate | 427 € / Ew. | 683 € / Ew. | 
At first glance, Cologne has a 15% higher trade tax income than Stuttgart. After adjusting for the different assessment rates, the normalization , the absolute tax force is now only 7% higher than the Stuttgart. However, if the values are related to the number of inhabitants, it becomes clear that Cologne's relative trade tax power is 37% below the Stuttgart value.
statistics
The national average of the relative trade tax rate with a standardized assessment rate of 250% was € 255 / inhabitant in 2009. The situation for the individual federal states is as follows.
| state | Trade tax revenue € / Ew. | Trade tax rate € / Ew. at a rate of 250% | weighted average lifting rate | 
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburg | 883 | 470 | 470% | 
| Hesse | 522 | 338 | 386% | 
| Bavaria | 454 | 312 | 364% | 
| Baden-Württemberg | 436 | 302 | 360% | 
| Bremen | 514 | 296 | 434% | 
| North Rhine-Westphalia | 449 | 259 | 434% | 
| Schleswig-Holstein | 304 | 225 | 337% | 
| Lower Saxony | 332 | 222 | 374% | 
| Saarland | 349 | 213 | 409% | 
| Rhineland-Palatinate | 307 | 209 | 367% | 
| Brandenburg | 250 | 195 | 321% | 
| Berlin | 280 | 171 | 410% | 
| Saxony-Anhalt | 215 | 155 | 348% | 
| Saxony | 251 | 153 | 411% | 
| Thuringia | 201 | 148 | 341% | 
| Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania | 175 | 127 | 344% | 
literature
- Journal for Municipal Finances, No. 10/2010, p. 231 ff.

