For a long time, the FDP, CDU, and constitutional lawyer Paul Kirchhof have wanted to simplify the German tax system through reform, aiming to eliminate the confusing array of burdens and benefits for greater transparency and less bureaucracy. Kirchhof proposes reducing the current thirty taxes to four, so that the previously multi-page tax return could fit, so to speak, on a beer mat. The simplified flat tax is an idea from American scholars that has been implemented in various Eastern European countries. This book provides an overview of the German tax system in an international comparison and which taxes and regulations are affected.