Economic seminar – Presentation of the Scientific Unit's study on Luxembourg's tax competitiveness

On Wednesday, 17 December 2025, STATEC, in collaboration with the Scientific Unit of the Chamber of Deputies and the University of Luxembourg, will host an economic seminar entitled Presentation of the Scientific Unit's study on Luxembourg's tax competitiveness.

On this occasion, Dr Julie Kaprielian, Dr Estelle Mennicken (Scientific Unit of the Chamber of Deputies), Dr Fabio Spirinelli (Parliamentary History Service of the Chamber of Deputies), Prof. Benoit Majerus and Dr Nora Paulus (University of Luxembourg) will present the following topic:

The Scientific Unit has received the following research request: According to a recent study by García-Bernardo & Janský (2022), the effective tax rate applicable to multinationals in Luxembourg was 0.9% in 2016, compared to the statutory rate of 29.22% provided for by law. ‘How can these figures be interpreted scientifically? Are there other scientific studies that confirm or refute these results? What are the main advantages and disadvantages of Luxembourg's competitive tax policy?’

These questions concern the explanation of the difference between the applicable statutory rate and the actual effective tax rate for multinational companies based in Luxembourg.

The research request is initially based on a 2022 preprint (manuscript submitted to an open archive, prior to peer review and publication) by García-Bernardo & Janský. The authors highlighted the existence of an effective tax rate of 0.9% in Luxembourg in 2016, while the statutory rate in force was 29.22% between 2013 and 2016.

Luxembourg's economic competitiveness and tax competition are the central issues of the scientific study presented by the researchers.

The economic, historical and legal context of these issues highlights the elements that will be presented on 17 December.