Kühnert calls for income tax reform
SPD General Secretary Kühnert fires back against the FDP's promise that there will be no tax increases for the rich. Low taxes for the richest five percent should not be a burden for the majority of Germans, "whose income does not make them super-rich", said Kühnert.
SPD General Secretary Kevin Kühnert has called on the German government to implement a comprehensive income tax reform in order to provide tangible relief for 95% of taxpayers. "If you promise even the richest of the rich that there will be no tax increases, then ultimately everyone else will be presented with the bill: Commuters at the gas pump, consumers in the supermarket, employees in terms of social security contributions," Kühnert told the "Rheinische Post" newspaper.
"In many cases, these are people who work and are fortunately not dependent on housing benefit, the child supplement or supplementary citizens' allowance," Kühnert continued. However, they already have to spend a very large proportion of their income on rent or a property loan, shopping, fuel costs and for their family.
Reform in this legislative period?
"2024 should be the year to relieve the burden on these people," says the SPD Secretary General. "Because they now bear the main tax burden in Germany, not least through consumption taxes." What is therefore needed is "structural relief for the 95% of employees whose income does not make them super-rich", preferably before the end of this legislative period.
With regard to counter-financing, Kühnert said that the "very strongest shoulders, who have predominantly experienced relief in Germany for 30 years", are more responsible in times of multiple crises. He expressed his confidence that Chancellor Olaf Scholz would support a proposal for comprehensive tax reform in the coalition with the traffic light system.
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Kühnert's proposal for tax reform includes a focus on income tax, aiming to provide relief for the majority of taxpayers who are not among the wealthiest 5%. He advocates for structural relief, suggesting that those with higher incomes, who have benefitted from tax reductions in Germany for decades, should contribute more.
The SPD General Secretary, Kevin Kühnert, aligns his tax reform proposals with a reform of the overall tax policy, specifically mentioning the need for a comprehensive reevaluation of income tax and consumption taxes to alleviate the burden on the majority of German taxpayers.
Source: www.ntv.de
