Abstract: The German mode of cooperative fiscal federalism and tax sharing system can reflect the history, culture and social concept of Germany, which perfects and supplements the American fiscal federalism and tax sharing system. It has the following four characteristics: the first is stipulating explicitly the financial arrangement of the governments at the three levels in the form of legislation; the second is carrying out the three-level tax revenue system of tax sharing, negotiation between the central and the local, and routine adjustment; the third is the method of merge-transfer payment: besides the federal longitudinal financial transfer payment, establishing the provincial government balance fund to carry out horizontal adjustment and control, so as to avoid the transfer disputes that may be brought forward by the horizontal transfer payment; the fourth is putting into practice the federation-state integrative tax collection and management system, in order to provide guarantee for the smooth implementation of the cooperative financial federalism. The cooperative financial federalism and the tax sharing system in Germany can provide experience and enlightenment to China’s reform of the fiscal decentralization and taxation system.

Key words: cooperative finance federalism; tax sharing system; financial transfer payment