11. Income taxes

Income taxes include the expected taxes on income paid or owed in the individual countries as well as deferred taxes.

The income tax rate of the German companies of METRO consists of a corporate income tax of 15.00% plus a 5.50% solidarity surcharge on corporate income tax as well as the trade tax of 14.70% given an average assessment rate of 420.00%. All in all, this results in an aggregate tax rate of 30.53%. The tax rates are unchanged from the previous year. The income tax rates applied to foreign companies are based on the respective laws and regulations of the individual countries and vary within a range of 0.00% (2015/2016: 0.00%) and 34.43% (2015/2016: 38.00%).

In financial year 2016/17 there was no impact on the actual tax expenses due to previous value-adjusted tax loss carry-forwards for the purposes of deferred taxes (2015/16: tax impact of €5 million).

Deferred tax liabilities for financial year 2016/17 comprise expenses of €18 million from changes in tax rates (2015/16: €4 million).

At €304 million (2015/16: €375 million), income tax expenses, which are shown fully in earnings from ordinary activities, are €106 million (2015/16: €102 million) higher than expected income tax expenses of €198 million (2015/16: €273 million) that would have resulted if the German corporate income tax rate had been applied to the group’s taxable income for the year.

Reconciliation of estimated to actual income tax expenses is as follows:

The other deviations in the financial year mainly include a deferred tax income from the reversal of a deferred tax liability in connection with the reallocation of goodwill.

Tax expenses and income relating to other periods from the previous year include refunds from a legal dispute that was settled during financial year 2015/16.