The OECD has completed its Economic survey of Germany for 2008. It has said that the lowering of corporate tax rates and broadening the tax base from 2008 onwards is a step in the right direction as it addresses the problem of outward profit shifting. However it suggests that more needs to be done in the area of tax.

According to the OECD summary: the following should be considered to secure the corporate tax base:

• Shifting more of the tax burden from mobile to immobile tax bases should be considered.
• Pressures to abolish inheritance taxes should be resisted.
• Improving the tax collection process, for example by centralising corporate tax collection at the federal level.
• The current application of the reduced VAT rate should be reconsidered for products for which a reduction is no longer justified.

In addition, the OECD has advised that Germany has joined 15 other countries in signing the OECD-Council of Europe Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. It is seen as a step that will help it to combat cross-border tax evasion more effectively in today's open global economy.

The Parties to the Convention are: Azerbaijan, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Canada and Ukraine have signed the Convention and are still in the process of ratification.