Nicolas Lecaussin has pointed out in a recent article that, after Germany, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Finland, Denmark is also bringing down its corporate tax: 22% whereas France still is at 34.4%. But there is more: this measure is included in a “growth plan” aiming at giving more freedom to entrepreneurs and companies
Last September, the Swedish Government lowered the corporate tax from 26.3% to 22%. It followed countries as Germany (from 30 to 26%) and the United Kingdom (from 28 to 24%). Finland did it also (from 28 to 26%). Now, it is Denmark’s turn to declare that its corporate tax will go from 25 to 22% by 2016. Corporate taxes must be brought down, every countries understood that except one: France. Ranking countries according to their corporate tax, France is first in Europe as followed according to the OECD (2012-2013):
France: 34.4%
Spain: 30%
Italy: 27.5%
Germany: 26%
Austria: 25%
Netherlands: 25%
The United Kingdom: 24%
Denmark: 22%
Sweden: 22%
Ireland: 12.5%
This tax lowering is included in a reform program presented by the Danish Government and called « Growth Plan DK ». It is worth outlining this plan since in the French Government is extremely far from it, in spite of its so-called “plan for competitiveness”.
Along with a corporate tax decrease, Danes also want to lower environmental taxes on companies, the abolition of the kilometric tax on trucks, raising the research and education tax credit, lowering VAT for tourism, enforcing fiscal incentives for investors and highly qualified foreign workforce, re-implementing tax deduction for renovations. This program will cost 15 billion Danish crowns and will be financed thanks to budget cuts into the public sector (decrease of civil servants salaries), and other cuts in students and unemployed allowances.
This plan would have caused a great turmoil in France. Yet, the Danish Government is from… the left (social democrat).
