“Time to show leadership”
FDP increases pressure on Scholz in tax debate
February 6, 2024, 2:18 p.m
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Ideas for tax relief for companies come from both the Greens and the FDP. However, Chancellor Scholz is holding back on the topic, referring to the already planned Growth Opportunities Act. That’s not enough for the FDP, the Liberals are holding the Chancellor responsible.
Leading FDP politicians have demanded decisions from Chancellor Olaf Scholz in the debate about tax relief. FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai said in Berlin: “It would now be time to show leadership.” A “dynamization package,” as proposed by Finance Minister Christian Lindner, would be the right thing to get Germany back on the road to success. “I am very irritated that the Chancellor is extremely reserved in the debate and does not aggressively adopt this proposal to strengthen growth.”
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr said he expects the SPD and the Greens to pave the way for further tax relief. “I would also like to see a clear signal from Chancellor Scholz on this.”
Scholz had expressed reservations about the debate initiated by Economics Minister Robert Habeck and Lindner about tax relief for companies – although Habeck and Lindner have different ideas. Lindner, for example, planned to abolish the solidarity surcharge, which would also relieve the burden on companies. However, government circles said that the volume of around twelve billion euros in the 2025 budget could hardly be financed. According to estimates, there is already a financing gap of 25 billion euros.
Chancellor clings to the Growth Opportunities Act
On Monday in Berlin, the Chancellor referred to the already planned Growth Opportunities Act, which is intended to promote the German economy. This is a “very good project” for which a mediation process is currently underway between the Bundestag and the Bundesrat. Djir-Sarai said: “The discussion about our country’s weak competitiveness is urgently needed, but it must not now be allowed to fade away. Something must be done and tackled courageously.”
Dürr said the aim of the coalition must be to give the economy a boost and strengthen competitiveness. “In my opinion, everyone agrees on this question, now we have to talk about implementation. Relief is the best economic stimulus program. As a first step, it would therefore make sense to abolish the solidarity for all companies – this could be decided quickly and unbureaucratically in the Bundestag become.”
Business associations are demanding that the government do something to stimulate the economy and do something for Germany as a business location because of international competition. The fact that both Habeck and Lindner were campaigning for relief initially raised hopes that the traffic light coalition would overcome its internal blockade.