Gemeinnützigkeit und Wettbewerb

In the area of conflict between charitable status and competition, the Fiscal Code of Germany exempts so-called dedicated activities (“Zweckbetriebe”) from taxation. Based on a legal comparison with its US counterpart, the tax-exempt substantially related business, this dissertation examines the limits of business activities of charitable organizations in this area of conflict. In part one, Melina Kammerer examines the socio-historical, constitutional, and fiscal conditions for dedicated activities in Germany and substantially related activities in the United States. In part two, the author examines the respective regulations in detail and, based on a case study, proposes a less restrictive interpretation of §§ 65-68 of the Fiscal Code.