Tax Revenue Losses and Balanced Federal Budget: On the Results of the Tax Revenue Estimate of November 2014

The “Tax Revenue Estimate” Working Group has significantly reduced its revenue forecasts as of 2015. While estimates for the on-going year were barely corrected, revenue losses totalling 6.4 billion euros were calculated for 2015. Lower expectations are due to a deterioration in the economic outlook. In October both the joint Economic Forecast and the German federal government downwardly revised their growth forecasts for this year and for 2015. Despite the smaller tax base, the federal government is sticking to its goal of a balanced budget in 2015. However, future developments in the economy will decide whether this target can be achieved.