Instead of relying on “watering can tax giveaways” and ever-new debt, relief must reach where it is really needed, Tschentscher told the German news agency dpa. He spoke out against lowering the corporate tax and advocated a digital tax for large tech corporations.
The planned gradual reduction of the corporate tax from 15 to 10 percent by 2032 would hit the federal government, states, and municipalities hard, the mayor warned. In addition, high statutory benefits are increasingly burdening budgets. “Municipal budgets are on the verge of collapse. And not just in the East or the West, but from Flensburg to Lake Constance,” said Tschentscher.
The coalition has embarked on a course that is leading Germany into a dead end, he said. Tax cuts would deprive the government of the strength to finance targeted measures such as lower electricity prices for industry or energy transition projects. In a world where “Trump, Putin, and the Chinese are going at each other,” one cannot hope for stable times.
The “tax investment booster” has been decided, but the hoped-for boom has failed to materialize – only stagnation is being recorded. The motto “just lower taxes and things will take off like Schmidts cat” has never worked. The budget for the coming year shows “incredibly high debt,” leading to enormous interest burdens with no prospect of repayment.
Source: www.spiegel.de
