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Blue-chip companies, including Bayer and Siemens, said they faced tens of millions of euros in costs from the tax, and complained of burdens such as lower returns on the pension schemes they run for employees.
Although chancellor Angela Merkel and other German politicians have championed the tax, opposition from the industrial companies that are the motor of the country’s economy may reduce enthusiasm. The levy is “a direct strike against the export-oriented German economy”, said Christine Bortenlänger, chief executive of the Deutsches Aktieninstitut (DAI), an organisation representing German-listed companies and investors. Yesterday, the DAI said the tax would have an “enormously broad impact” on companies, for example through their use of derivatives to hedge exchange rate risks when they export.
A study of 24 large German companies estimated they faced costs of between €600 million and €1.5 billion from the tax, the DAI said. “Politicians obviously don’t realise what damage the FTT would cause for companies in the real economy”, Ms Bortenlänger said.
DAI-research (German) © Deutsches Aktieninstitut