Start-ups to pay less tax

The state of Baden-Württemberg wants to introduce a corresponding initiative in the Bundesrat. Before that, however, the state's own government still has to approve the bill.

Start-ups are to pay less tax in future. At least that is what the state of Baden-Württemberg wants to enforce, according to a cabinet bill quoted by the Stuttgarter Zeitung

According to the bill, start-ups should be able to offset their losses from the first six years against later profits without limit. It would also make it easier for investors to buy into start-ups without jeopardising the company's loss carry-forward because of the resulting change in ownership. Profits from investors are also to remain tax-free for up to five million euros if they are reinvested in a start-up.

These tax advantages are important because "especially young, innovative companies often have to struggle with financial problems in their start-up phase," Claus Paal, the economic policy spokesman for the CDU parliamentary group in the state parliament, told the Stuttgarter Zeitung