Sunday 10th January 2021
Discussion about fair taxation
Scholz criticizes rich people as showing lack of solidarity
In the corona pandemic, demands from the SPD for the introduction of a wealth tax are increasing. Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz is now accusing wealthy Germans of acting in disagreement with solidarity in the discussion. The coalition partner and the FDP criticize the initiative.
SPD chancellor candidate and finance minister Olaf Scholz accused wealthy Germans of behaving in a disagreement with solidarity in the discussion about a greater burden on high wealth. "We live in a society in which those who are very rich and powerful too often manage to defend themselves against fair taxation by pretending that all those who do not have high incomes should also be burdened "said Scholz of the" Welt am Sonntag ". The SPD will prevent that.
At the federal party conference in 2019, the SPD passed a concept to reintroduce wealth tax, which has not been levied since 1997 following a ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court. Among other things, the concept provides for taxing private assets from two million euros. In view of the rising costs of financing the corona pandemic, Scholz and the SPD party chairmen Norbert Walter-Borjans and Saskia Esken recently repeatedly brought the introduction of a wealth tax into play.
The CDU and FDP, on the other hand, consider the discussion to be out of date. "The global trend is towards taxing the assets that are easiest to evaluate, namely real estate – and not taxing other assets or only very little and then taxing them at a flat rate," said possible CDU chairman Friedrich Merz of "Welt am Sonntag" ". But Germany has long had a property tax on property.
FDP leader Christian Lindner told the newspaper that the disproportionately high collection costs could quickly exceed the revenue from a wealth tax. "In the end, there would be a tax of envy that is insignificant for the state budget and punishes thrift and willingness to perform," he said.
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