Zusammenfassung:
The question of who ultimately bears the burden of corporate income tax is central to tax policy, with implications for both fairness and efficiency. Previous evidence for Germany suggested that workers absorb a large share through lower wages, raising concerns about the distributional consequences of corporate taxation. New evidence challenges this view by explicitly incorporating real estate markets into the analysis. Drawing on more than 35 million property listings and over 17,000 municipal business tax reforms between 2008 and 2019, the study shows that higher local business taxes are capitalized into lower property values, firm profits, and wages. When interpreted through an incidence framework, the findings indicate that firms bear the largest share, workers are less affected, and landlords - especially owners of commercial properties - carry a substantial part of the burden. These findings impact both the distributional and efficiency assessment of corporate taxation. Because landlords and firm owners are typically wealthier households, corporate taxation is more progressive than previously thought. Moreover, since part of the tax effectively functions as a levy on land, it creates fewer economic distortions than taxes on mobile factors such as labor and capital. For policymakers, this calls for a broader perspective: debates about corporate taxation should extend beyond firms and workers to include its effects on real estate markets, with important consequences for both equity and efficiency.