Taxation

KU Research Institute for Taxation

The KU Research Institute for Taxation pools and coordinates research, teaching and outreach on tax topics at the Ingolstadt School of Management (WFI) of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KU).

Social Media | News | Events I Projects | Research I Public Relations I Team

Social Media

Find out more about the activities of the KU Research Insititute for Taxation by following us on UniNow and LinkedIn. Stay informed about current research topics and job vacancies at the institute, receive valuable information for your studies and get in touch with us directly!

News

1st conference of the KU Research Institute for Taxation

The 1st conference of the KU Research Institute for Taxation took place on February 7, 2025. You can find more information and a report on the event here.

WFI students at the EY-Tax Talent Days in Berlin

Four WFI students took part in the EY Tax Talent Days in Berlin on 9 and 10 December. Participation in this exclusive event is already a great success: our students beat around 200 other applicants out of 45 places available!

A varied program awaited them during the two days. As part of a guided tour of the Parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany, the participants gained unique insights into tax policy decision-making processes and discussed current tax issues with Mr Christoph Wicher (Tax Officer of the CDU parliamentary group) and Mrs Julia Bossmann (Tax Officer of the FDP parliamentary group). In barcamp sessions, the various EY services were presented and specialist topics were discussed. A presentation on tax technology at EY offered a glimpse into the future of tax innovations. There was also plenty of opportunity to socialise and network with the other participants during a round of curling in the evening.

Awards for our research associates Anna-Sophie Braun and Christoph Rehrl

We congratulate Anna-Sophie Braun on winning the Teaching Prize and Christoph Rehrl on winning the prize for the best Master's thesis!

The WFI and the IN-Kontakt alumni association presented their graduates with their Bachelor's, Master's and doctoral certificates at the Ingolstadt City Theatre. Dr. Dorothea Deneke-Stoll, the second mayor of the city of Ingolstadt, presented several graduates with prizes in recognition of their outstanding achievements. We are delighted to announce that the prize for the best Master's thesis in 2024 has been awarded to our research associate, Christoph Rehrl. Mr. Rehrl's thesis, entitled 'Firm-wide Effects of Earnings Stripping Rules', provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of the reform of the 'Earnings Stripping Rules' from the ATAD guidelines on the firm-wide foreign debt ratios of large multinational companies within the EU.

We are pleased to announce that our research associate, Anna-Sophie Braun, has been honoured with the 'Teaching Prize', an annual award for excellent teaching at the WFI, during the graduation ceremony. The elected student representatives at the WFI select a professor and a doctoral or postdoctoral student to receive this prize each year. The recipients are chosen based on student evaluations of the teaching of all courses taught at the WFI over the past two semesters. The award cites three courses taught by Mrs. Braun: Financial Statements and Corporate Taxation (Bachelor's level), Corporate Tax Law (Master's level) and Accounting Tax Law (Master's level). We would like to extend our congratulations to Prof. Dr. David Streich for being awarded the same prize for professors.

Dr. Svea Holtmann receives the Economics Award for Dissertations from the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF)

We congratulate our affiliated researcher Dr. Svea Holtmann on winning the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) award for doctoral theses!

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Svea Holtmann has been awarded the German Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) Dissertation Prize for her doctoral thesis written at the WFI. The prize was awarded for the first time in mid-September on the occasion of the "75th anniversary of the BMF" by the then Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner. In her award-winning dissertation, Dr. Svea Holtmann addresses the question of how tax policy can contribute to the achievement of specific sustainability goals. We congratulate Dr. Holtmann on this well-deserved recognition for her outstanding dissertation.

Dr. Holtmann is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Mannheim, specialising in Accounting & Taxation. She is also a visiting scholar at Stanford University in the US.

Hiking trip of the KU Research Institute for Taxation to Lake Tegernsee

Gruppenfoto Wanderausflug des KU Research Institute for Taxation

This year, the KU Research Institute for Taxation's hiking trip to Lake Tegernsee took place in perfect weather. The hike led from Tegernsee via the Riederstein up to the Baumgartenschneid. There, we enjoyed the marvelous panoramic view of Lake Tegernsee and the foothills of the Alps. During the descent, we stopped off at a mountain inn along the way. After a brief refreshment, we covered the last section of the 15-km hike. At the end of the day, a quick dip in Lake Tegernsee provided some well-earned refreshment.

Events

1st conference of the KU Research Institute for Taxation

The 1st conference of the KU Research Institute for Taxation took place on February 7, 2025. You can find more information and a report on the event here.

Talk by Fritz Güntzler MdB

Vortrag von Herrn Güntzler am 31. Januar 2023 an der WFI

On January 31, 2023, Fritz Güntzler MdB was a guest at our Faculty of Economics. In his exciting lecture, Mr. Güntzler reported on his work in the German Parliament's investigation committees on cum-ex transactions and the Wirecard case as well as on current legislative projects in the field of tax policy. The subsequent discussion round on the topics of global minimum taxation, the complexity of the tax system and current demands for the introduction of an excess profits tax was moderated by Prof. Dr. Langenmayr and Prof. Dr. Koch. The well-attended event concluded with a general Q&A session in which students were able to address their questions directly to Fritz Güntzler.

Panel on the Future of Taxation

Increasing digitization involves new challenges for tax consultancy and tax departments in companies, which also leads to a changing job profile. Such changes have implications for teaching students majoring in taxation.

On December 2, 2020, we held a panel on "The Future of Taxation" with Dr. Mathias Hildebrand (then Senior Vice President Group Tax at ProSiebenSat.1 Media SE and co-editor of beck.digitax) and Dr. Richard Schmidtke (Partner Transfer Pricing at Deloitte) in which participants discussed how taxation and tax-related jobs are likely to change further in the coming years and how today's students can prepare for this.

Projects

Tax avoidance of multinational companies at subsidiary level

In this project, funded by the Fritz Thyssen Foundation, we are investigating which factors influence differences in the tax avoidance activities of affiliates within a group. Previous research papers have focused on profit shifting and tax avoidance at group level. Building on these findings, we would like to take a closer look at the role of subsidiaries when implementing such strategies.

Prerequisites and framework conditions for investment incentives after times of crisis

This research project, which ran from September 2021 to April 2022, focused on possible reforms to German corporate taxation. The aim of the considerations was to create new investment incentives for companies after the end of the Covid-19 crisis. In collaboration with the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Action (BMWK) and Andreas Oestreicher, Matti Boie-Wegener and Sandra Hartmann (all Georg-August-Universität Göttingen), Reinald Koch, Dominika Langenmayr and Lena Schön developed six different packages of measures to create favorable framework conditions for investments.

The individual reform proposals cover various areas. These include the introduction or extension of regulations on declining balance depreciation, a reduction in the corporation tax rate, an extension of the financing allowance for trade tax, a reduction in the discount rate for provisions and the introduction of a wealth tax. Dynamic and static microsimulations were used to calculate the revenue and relief effects in order to show the different effects of the individual measures.

The research results provide a sound basis for the discussion on the effects of potential tax reforms and serve as a valuable resource for decision-makers. Overall, the project provides important insights into the design of competitive and investment-friendly corporate taxation in Germany in times of economic challenges.

Loss offset as a tax policy instrument in times of crisis

On behalf of the former Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (now: Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action), Reinald Koch, Dominika Langenmayr and Lena Schön examined the effects of an expansion of the existing tax loss offsetting options on the behavior of companies.

The study, which was conducted in 2021, uses microsimulation models to estimate the effects of the policy on tax revenue. First, the results were calculated for a sample of companies, which were then extrapolated to the population of companies on the basis of official tax statistics. In addition to that, the relief effects resulting from an extension of the loss offsetting options were calculated for various smaller groups of companies. For this purpose, the companies were differentiated in particular with regard to their legal form, size and sector affiliation.

In addition to the revenue and relief effects, this research project investigated how changes in the tax regulations affect the behavior of companies. With regard to a change in loss offsetting, particular effects on investment behavior, financing and the liquidity situation of companies were forecasted.

Research

Current Publications

Publications in Reviewed Journals

Boie-Wegener, M., Koch, R., Oestreicher, A., Schön, L. (2024). Die fiskalische Wirkung von Steuersatzsenkungen, Abschreibungsvergünstigungen und Investitionsprämien in Krisenzeiten — Eine quantitative Analyse in Bezug auf deutsche Kapitalgesellschaften, Steuer und Wirtschaft – StuW, 101(2), 104-123
Langenmayr, D., Simmler, M. (2024). JUE insight: Expectations about future tax rates and firm entry, Journal of Urban Economics, 142, 103666
Koch, R., Langenmayr, D., Schön, L. (2023). Verlustrücktrag bei der Gewerbesteuer? Eine Mikrosimulation der Aufkommenseffekte, Perspektiven der Wirtschaftspolitik, 24(4), 395-407
Koch, R., Holtmann, S., Giese, H. (2023). Losses never sleep – The effect of tax loss offset on stock market returns during economic crises, Journal of Business Economics, 93(1-2), 59-109
Langenmayr, D., Zyska L. (2023). Escaping the exchange of information: Tax evasion via citizenship-by-investment, Journal of Public Economics, 221, 104865
Langenmayr, D., Liu, L. (2023). Home or away? Profit shifting with territorial taxation, Journal of Public Economics, 217, 104776
Langenmayr, D., Reiter, F. (2022). Trading offshore: evidence on banks' tax avoidance, Scandianvian Journal of Economics, 124(3), 797-837
Langenmayr, D., Simmler, M. (2021). Firm mobility and jurisdictions’ tax rate choices: Evidence from immobile firm entry, Journal of Public Economics, 204, 104530
Reiter, F., Langenmayr, D., & Holtmann, S. (2021). Avoiding taxes: banks’ use of internal debt. International Tax and Public Finance, 28(3), 717-745
Gamm, M, Holtmann, S., Koch, R. (2020). Die Besteuerung von Immobilien-Publikumsfonds nach dem InvStRefG - Eine steuerliche Vorteilhaftigkeitsanalyse, Steuer und Wirtschaft (StuW) 97(4), 368-380
Graßl, B., Koch, R. (2020). Die unilateralen Maßnahmen zur Digitalsteuer – Rechtliche Einordnung und wirtschaftliche Belastung, Steuer und Wirtschaft (StuW) 97(4), 293-316
Holtmann, S. (2020). Tax Avoidance Using Hybrid Financial Instruments Among European Countries, British Tax Review Issue 2, 217-240
Bönke, T., Grabka, M., Schröder, C., Wolff, E., Zyska, L. (2019). The Joint Distribution of Net Worth and Pension Wealth in Germany, Review of Income and Wealth, 65(4), 834-871. Working Paper Version (PDF)
Langenmayr, D., Lester, R. (2018). Taxation and Corporate Risk-Taking, The Accounting Review 93(3), 237-266

Other Publications

Langenmayr, D. (2023). Steuerschätzung: Ausgabenprioritäten setzen, Wirtschaftsdienst 103(11), 724
Koch, R. (2023). Die Ertragsteuerbelastung von Kapitalgesellschaften in Deutschland, Wirtschaftsdienst 103(11), 776-782
Langenmayr, D. (2023). Die Einführung einer Übergewinnssteuer, StuW 100(1), 70-72.
Koch, R., Langenmayr, D. (2021). Unternehmenssteuerrecht: Rechtsformneutralität sinnvoll?, Wirtschaftsdienst 101(4), 241
Graßl, B., & Giese, H. (2021). Die Überwälzung einer Digitalsteuer und deren Auswirkung auf Umsatzrendite und ETR. Beck. digitax, 2(1), 13-22
Giese, H., Graßl, B., Holtmann, S., Krug, P. (2020). Steuerliche Entlastungsmöglichkeiten für kleine und mittlere Unternehmen wegen der COVID-19-Pandemie – Kann das Steuersystem Solidarität in der Gesellschaft fördern?, DStR 58(15-16), 752-760
Graßl, B., & Koch, R. (2020). Einordnung umsatzbasierter Steuern nach der aktuellen EuGH-Rechtsprechung und die Relevanz für unilaterale Digitalsteuern. IStR, 645-653
Graßl, B., & Früchtl, F. (2020). Die steuerliche Behandlung und Belastung eines Rückkaufs und Verkaufs von Lebensversicherungsverträgen. BB, 2646-2652
Koch, R., Langenmayr, D., Holtmann, S. (2020). Masterstudiengang "Taxation" an der WFI - Ingolstadt School of Management, beck.digitax 5/2020
Koch, R., Langenmayr, D., Holtmann, S. (2020). Informationen für Studium und Beruf: Masterstudiengang "Taxation" an der WFI - Ingolstadt School of Management, Wirtschaftswissenschaftliches Studium 49, 51-52
Koch, R., Langenmayr, D. (2020). Der steuerliche Umgang mit Verlusten: Reformoptionen für die Corona-Krise, Wirtschaftsdienst 100, 367-373
Graßl, B., Koch, R. (2019). Unilaterale Initiativen zur Einführung von Digitalsteuern. IStR, 28(22), 873-888

Public Relations

The KU Research Institute for Taxation seeks to contribute to the networking of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt in business, society and politics. Here, you can find your contact persons for tax-related topics.