On 26 April 2016, Prime Minister Xavier Bettel delivered his State of the Nation speech, during which he highlighted some of the proposed changes to the Luxembourg tax system to be implemented in 2017. Most of these measures had already been announced by the government in February 2016, including the expected progressive decrease of the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 18%.
Going further, on 21 April 2016, Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna presented clarifications and additional measures to be included in the tax reform for 2017, which have now been confirmed by Prime Minister Bettel.
Facing the challenge of maintaining Luxembourg's tax competitiveness, the government notably reaffirmed that the developments in the international tax landscape and in particular the transposition of the BEPS measures at the European level will be followed closely. The objective is to adapt the Luxembourg tax framework to these changes in order to ensure that it remains attractive while still respecting the new international and European standards, in the spirit of a level playing field.
The new proposed measures for corporations include, among others, the increase of the investment tax credit rates by one percentage point and the creation of specialised working groups to address various key topics for start-ups and SMEs to further enhance the country's competitiveness. Clarifications on the limitation of the carry-forward of tax losses have also been made.
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