The SPD has rejected criticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) regarding its tax plans. Parliamentary manager Dirk Wiese told the “Rheinische Post” that “a stronger taxation of very high incomes by raising the rich tax would be a fair approach, not a squeeze of a lemon”.

Wiese added that the coalition agreement already sets a tax reform for small and medium‑sized incomes. He said it would also make sense to postpone a higher top‑rate to relieve the working middle tier, but that such a measure must be offset somehow. “The relief for very, very many will only work if it comes with a very, very high‑income tax” he noted.

Merz had previously rejected the SPD’s plans to increase taxes on high earners and inheritances, saying in the “Machtwechsel” podcast that the lemon was “pretty squeezed”.