The AfD welcomes CDU General Secretary Carsten Linnemann’s proposals to reform the top tax rate and the citizen’s benefit.
René Springer, the AfD’s spokesperson on labour and social policy, told “Die Welt” that the middle class must be relieved as part of a comprehensive tax reform. He said citizens are suffering from historically high combined taxation and social contributions and that the country needs “real relief for active workers, families and the working middle class – not just a few homeopathic adjustments right before the CDU congress”. Springer added that Linnemann’s plan to tighten earnings rules on the citizen’s benefit “is heading in the right direction” but noted it would ultimately fail in the Bundestag against the benefit‑averse SPD.
Linnemann called for a top tax rate to take effect only on annual gross incomes above €80,000, and he also demanded stricter earnings limits for the citizen’s benefit, according to an interview with “Bild am Sonntag”.
The Greens rejected Linnemann’s proposals firmly. Andreas Audretsch, deputy chair of the Green faction, told “Die Welt” that millions will be labelled lazy by the CDU, only to be ignored and forgotten. He stressed the need for relief for people on low and moderate incomes through a reduction in the electricity tax for everyone. Audretsch argued that the CDU’s principle, that more work should not pay off, should be dismantled. “Taking more money from people when they go to work is absurd” he said. “We want to bring as many people into employment as possible, and we rely on the principle that each extra hour of work should translate into more money in the wallet”.
The Left described Linnemann’s top‑rate proposal as “unilateral and chaotic”. They said the push comes “in a double‑pack with an attack on those receiving supplemental citizen’s benefit or basic security” added Doris Achelwilm, the Left’s tax policy spokesperson. “At the end, it will again reach people with little money into the pocket – an audacity”. Achelwilm warned that Linnemann seeks to amplify existing injustices in the tax system, advocating relief for modest and middle incomes through a higher basic exemption and the introduction of a wealth tax.