KPMG Germany Webpage
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By Robert E Tromp
Part I. Introductory
1.1 Enactment Of Tax Reform 2000
Tax Reform 2000 - officially the Act for the Reduction of Tax Rates and Reform of Business Taxation, or Tax Reduction Act (Steuersenkungsgesetz) - was enacted into law on 14 July 2000 after the government out manoeuvred the staunch CDU/CSU opposition in an interesting display of legislative finesse.
Lacking the votes to carry its bill in the Federal Council of States, the second chamber of the German legislature, the government was forced into negotiations with the opposition after the Federal Council voted in early June to reject the measure which the Federal Parliament had passed in mid-May. Negotiations in a Conference Committee composed of representatives from the Federal Parliament and the Federal Council led to adoption of a committee resolution on 6 July 2000 recommending changes to the government's bill.
