Doctors' Association rejects tax incentives for foreign specialists
The German federal government wants to attract foreign specialized workers to Germany with tax incentives. The Marburger Bund is against it. The medical association sees German specialized workers disadvantaged - and the problem lies elsewhere.
The Marburger Bund medical association criticizes the tax incentives for specialized workers that the traffic light coalition plans to introduce. It goes against the principle of equal treatment if foreign specialized workers are attracted through tax incentives while others are not benefited, said association chairwoman Susanne Johna to the Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).
"It's not the tax law that Germany has too few specialized workers from abroad, but the recognition procedures for professional qualifications," Johna said. Doctors and nurses with foreign qualifications sometimes have to wait years here to be recognized before they can be fully employed in healthcare. She named bureaucracy and understaffed authorities as problems with recognition.
As part of its "Growth Initiative," the government plans to introduce tax incentives for employment in Germany - to make Germany more attractive for foreign specialized workers. It is planned that newly arriving specialized workers can be tax-exempt from the net wage by 30, 20, and 10 percent in the first three years. For this tax exemption, a lower and upper limit for the net wage should be defined.
The Politicians in the Traffic Coalition are advocating for tax incentives as part of their "Growth Initiative," aiming to address the labor shortage in specialized roles by attracting foreign workers to Germany. Despite this, the Marburger Bund strongly opposes this policy, arguing that it promotes an unequal treatment of German specialized workers. The association chairwoman, Susanne Johna, emphasizes that the root of the issue lie in the complex and time-consuming recognition procedures for foreign professional qualifications in fields like healthcare, often leading to long waits for doctors and nurses with foreign credentials.
