CDU to Raise Top Tax Rate Later, Says Jens Spahn
The CDU will raise the top tax rate later than previously planned, according to Jens Spahn, the deputy leader of the CDU’s parliamentary group in the Bundestag. “We want to significantly increase the top tax rate to 70,000 to 80,000 and thus relieve everyone” Spahn said to the TV channel Welt on Friday, referring to the party’s election program.
Currently, the top tax rate of 45% applies to individuals with a taxable annual income of over €66,761, and for married couples, the threshold is €277,825. Incomes below these levels are not affected by the top tax rate.
The goal is to make it worthwhile to work in Germany again, Spahn said. “We must make Germany an attractive location for everyone who wants to work here, who wants to take on a challenge, who has good ideas, and, of course, for those in a partnership or a small business.”
According to Spahn, the main beneficiaries of this change would be “especially skilled workers, those who work overtime, those who work extra hours in the gastronomy, who are often already in the top tax bracket with their additional pay and allowances.” He claimed that “broad sections of the German public” would pay the additional top tax rate without even noticing it.
In the energy policy, Spahn spoke out in favor of not ruling out the restart of German nuclear power plants. “We think that at least one should check which of the last shut-down nuclear power plants could be put back into operation at what cost. Then one can make a sober, factual cost-benefit analysis of whether more can be put back into operation” the CDU politician said.
To combat the currently very high electricity prices, Spahn advocated for not shutting down any more power plants, as was the case this year with four gigawatts of coal power. “Important principle: No more exit without a prior entry into secure capacity.” In 2024, according to the Federal Environmental Agency, sufficient capacities of renewable energy will be connected to the grid to cover the increased electricity demand of the current year and at the same time increase the proportion of renewable energy in the gross electricity consumption.