Germany has a complex and multi-level taxation system that covers both legal entities and individual entrepreneurs (IEs). Let us consider the main taxes applicable to these categories of taxpayers.
Taxes for legal entities
1. Corporate income tax (Körperschaftsteuer):
2. Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer):
3. Value added tax (Mehrwertsteuer, MwSt):
Taxes for individual entrepreneurs
1. Income tax (Einkommensteuer):
2. Trade tax (Gewerbesteuer):
3. Value added tax (MwSt):
Other taxes and fees
1. Solidarity tax (Solidaritätszuschlag):
2. Church tax (Kirchensteuer):
3. Property tax (Grundsteuer):
The German tax system is characterized by progressiveness and diversity of taxes, which requires careful planning and accounting when doing business. It is recommended to consult with professional tax advisors to ensure compliance with current legal requirements and optimize the tax burden.
This week, the National Bank of Ukraine’s (NBU) interventions on the interbank market rose to a record high since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – up to $1 billion 625.9 million, according to the regulator’s statistics.
According to the statistics, the central bank increased sales of foreign currency by 14.7% over the previous week without buying currency.
According to the data published by the central bank during this time, the negative balance between the volume of currency purchases by the population and the volume of its sales narrowed from $66.07 million to $61.54 million.
Since the beginning of December, the NBU’s interventions have already reached $4.90 billion, which is also a record high since at least the beginning of 2012. The previous record of $3.96 billion was set in June 2022.
In total, since the beginning of 2024, the amount of foreign currency sold by the regulator amounted to $34 billion 568.5 million, and $126 million was purchased. In 2023, the NBU sold $28 billion 829.7 million worth of foreign currency and bought back $219.9 million.
The official hryvnia exchange rate fell by 7 kopecks to 41.9403 UAH/$1 over the week, while the cash exchange rate strengthened by 16 kopecks both when buying to 42.10 UAH/$1 and selling to 42.15 UAH/$1.
In general, since the beginning of 2024, the dollar has risen in price by 10.4%, or UAH 3.93, at the official exchange rate, and since the National Bank switched to managed flexibility on October 3, 2023, by 14.7%, or UAH 5.37.
As reported, Ukraine’s international reserves in November 2024 increased by $3.344 billion, or 9.1%, and as of December 1, according to preliminary data from the central bank, amounted to $39.925 billion, while net international reserves (NIR) increased by $3.5 billion, or 15.6%, to $25 billion 939 million.
The U.S. population in 2024 grew by nearly 1%, the highest rate since 2021, the U.S. Census Bureau reported.
The number of residents of the country this year exceeded 340 million people.
The most significant growth traditionally showed the southern states – 1.8 million people (more than the rest of the regions combined). Including in Texas the population grew by about 563 thousand people, in Florida – by 467 thousand people.
The District of Columbia showed the most significant growth rate in percentage terms, at 2.2%.
The net inflow of immigrants to the country amounted to almost 2.8 million people. Such a high figure is partly due to a change in the methodology of calculation (now it includes persons admitted to the U.S. for humanitarian reasons).
At the same time, immigration fully provided population growth in 16 states, where in its absence there would have been a decline, the Associated Press quotes the words of Brookings Institution demographer William Frey.
In three states – Mississippi, Vermont and West Virginia – the population declined, albeit slightly.
The number of new births in the U.S. in 2024 exceeded the number of deaths by nearly 519,000.
On Monday, December 30, in Ukraine without significant precipitation. In the western and Vinnitsa regions at night and in the morning fog, reported Ukrhydrometcenter.
The wind is predominantly southwesterly, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, during the day 0-5° warm; in the Carpathians at night 3-8° frost, during the day about 0°.
In Kiev on Monday without significant precipitation. The wind is predominantly southwesterly, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night 0-2° warm, during the day 2-4° warm.
According to the Central Geophysical Observatory named after Boris Sreznevsky. Borys Sreznevsky in Kiev on December 30, the highest daytime temperature was 10.5 in 2023, the lowest nighttime temperature was -26.3 in 1895.
Tuesday, December 31, in Ukraine without precipitation.
The wind is west, southwest, 7-12 m/s.
The temperature at night from 2° warm to 3° frost, during the day 0-5° warm, in the southern part 3-8° warm.
In Kiev on December 31 without precipitation. The wind is west, southwest, 7-12 m/s. The temperature at night 0-2° warm; in the daytime 2-4° warm.
The Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food will expand its work priorities in 2025 and add energy security to them, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Vitaliy Koval said at a meeting with representatives of the European Business Association (EBA) on Thursday.
“The Ministry is already involved in the development of Ukraine’s biomethane strategy. Moreover, the green transition is mandatory as part of the European Union, which is where Ukraine is heading,” the Ministry’s press service quoted him as saying.
Koval also emphasized that one of the priorities of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy will be to continue the existing and launch new state programs to support farmers, including the launch of regional programs.
The meeting discussed new conditions for the export of soybeans and soybean products to the EU, the transfer of grain warehouse documents to electronic form, the booking of employees of critical enterprises under the new procedure, the launch of a register of technical hemp producers, and the shortage of personnel in the agricultural sector.
“We are engaged in a dialogue with international partners to increase their support for retraining personnel, improving the material and technical base of vocational education institutions and relevant training centers. In particular, we are working on adapting agricultural machinery and equipment for people with disabilities to operate them. We have also focused on ensuring that state and regional orders for training new specialists are based on market needs. Educational institutions must train specialists to meet the expectations of employers,” Koval said and emphasized the feasibility of developing dual education and permanent classes directly at enterprises.
The Minister thanked the EBA members for the active dialog.
Ukrposhta JSC has reduced the delivery time for shipments from Ukraine to the United States to 14 days from 20 days earlier, Yulia Pavlenko, director of the international operations department of Ukrposhta JSC, said in an exclusive video interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Currently, Ukrposhta’s delivery times abroad are 7-21 days in Europe, depending on the country, and up to two weeks in the United States,” Pavlenko said, adding that previously, delivery to the United States took up to 20 days.
According to her, the company managed to reduce the delivery time of shipments from Ukraine abroad thanks to cooperation with DHL, one of the world’s largest logistics companies.
“Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, I had a great desire to agree with DHL to accept Ukrposhta’s shipments on their planes. It was not immediately possible to agree on this – we had different samples of documents – Ukrposhta had a postal sample, and DHL had a sample of an express carrier. However, it happened, and recently, DHL Global Match, a special division of DHL in London, has been receiving full trucks from Ukraine. Ukrposhta’s cargoes are loaded onto DHL Aviation aircraft (DHL’s worldwide air transportation division – IF-U). I am very pleased with the pace we have during the season and off-season thanks to this cooperation,” Pavlenko said.
As it is known, Ukrposhta delivers parcels and correspondence to/from Ukraine to 190 countries.
The full interview with Yulia Pavlenko, Director of the International Operations Department of Ukrposhta, will be available soon on the website of Interfax-Ukraine at www.interfax.com.ua.
