forward – WU Alumni Magazin 2/2021

© WU Lukas Pelz
Univ.-Prof. DDr. Georg Kofler LL. M.
+ Professor am Institut für Österreichisches und
Internationales Steuerrecht der WU
+ Forschungsschwerpunkte: digitale Transformation
und Steuerrecht, Steuerpolitik in der EU und
Einfluss des EU-Rechts auf nationales Steuerrecht,
nationale und internationale Aspekte der
Unternehmens- und Konzernbesteuerung,
internationales Steuerrecht, insbesondere
österreichisches Außensteuerrecht,
Doppelbesteuerungsabkommen, Base Erosion and
Profit Shifting (BEPS), Transparenz etc.
+ Stationen vor der WU: Vorstand des Instituts für
Finanzrecht, Steuerrecht und Steuerpolitik sowie
Vorstand des Forschungsinstituts für Steuerrecht
und Steuermanagement an der Johannes Kepler
Universität Linz
What is the function of taxes in today’s society?
Kofler: First and foremost, taxes are levied to fill the state coffers,
to ensure that wealth is redistributed and to nudge people’s
behavior – think, for example, of the discussion on eco-taxes.
The main question is: how do you distribute the tax burden? One
important yardstick is that everyone should contribute according
to their ability to pay. But it can be difficult to determine this
ability in each case. Among other things, ability to pay is determined
by income level (levied as income tax), but also by the level
of consumption (levied as sales tax). Another approach to taxation
is the equivalence principle, namely the idea that an individual’s
contribution should be based on what they receive in return from
the state. The prime example here are fees for public services. So
tax law deals with all these socio-political questions: What do you
want to finance? What do you want to tax? How do you want to
redistribute wealth? And does everyone in the system contribute
their fair share?
How can we ensure that taxes are generally perceived as fair?
Kofler: This is not only a psychological question but also a highly
political one. Some aspects are investigated by the OECD studies on
tax morality. Here’s one, for example: if people feel safe and happy
in a state, they are more willing to accept a higher tax burden. In
this way, the readiness to pay taxes increases as those taxed view
it as a fair exchange. But, of course, there are also states, such as in
South America, that have both relatively low tax rates and a poor
level of public services. Overall, however, this topic should be handled
with care, because populism and a certain media representation
encourage a trend toward oversimplification. And often we
view taxes on others as fair but those on ourselves as unfair. Setting
aside any scientific arguments, this can easily be observed, for
example, in the discussion on wealth and inheritance taxes.
+ Professor at the WU’s Institute for Austrian and
International Tax Law
+ Research interests: digital transformation and tax
law, tax policy in the EU and the influence of EU
law on national tax law, national and international
aspects of business and corporate taxation,
international tax law, in particular Austria’s external
tax law, double taxation agreements, Base Erosion
and Profit Shifting (BEPS), transparency, etc.
+ Before joining the WU: head of the Institute for
Financial Law, Tax Law and Tax Policy and director
of the Research Institute for Tax Law and Tax
Management at Johannes Kepler University Linz
Often the fairness debate revolves around multinational corporations.
What role does the taxation of corporations play in society?
Eberhartinger: For me this role is exaggerated. Of course, companies
must also bear their fair share of the tax burden, but the
debate is often highly simplified and focused on individual companies
using elaborate schemes to shift profits around and avoid
the taxman. But not every corporation that pays little tax is acting
immorally. It may be that the losses of previous years are carried
forward, i.e. they are applied to future income in order to reduce
the tax liability. Holding companies also generally pay little tax
because their income is in the form of dividend payouts from their
subsidiaries, which have already been subject to corporate income
tax (CIT). But CIT makes up a much smaller share of state revenues
than the taxation of work and sales. I believe that moonlighting
and carousel fraud are bigger problems for society.
Lesen Sie „Real Effects of Public Country-by-Country Reporting and the Firm Structure
of European Banks“ auf papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3523909
Read „Real Effects of Public Country-by-Country Reporting and the Firm Structure of
European Banks“ at papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3523909
26
88391_WU_Alumni_Forward_2_2021_ICv2.indd 26 30.08.21 13:31