The Greens member of the state parliament, Claudia Köhler, is not afraid of big numbers. Income, expenses, balance sheets are their métier. The 55-year-old from Unterhaching is currently in charge of the budget deliberations for the Free State of Bavaria as deputy chair of the Committee on State Budget and Financial Questions because the chair is in quarantine. During a break in the meeting, she spoke to the SZ about the mailbox companies in Grünwald, about the fairness of assessment rates and the lack of solidarity among municipalities
SZ: As a financial expert and as a municipal councilor in Unterhaching, are you jealous of Grünwald? Do you sometimes think they’ve done everything right, that’s where the money is flowing?
Claudia Köhler: As a local politician, you are a bit jealous. Because that means a lot more disposable capital for a municipality if you have such huge business tax revenues. I was brutally jealous when we handed over our geothermal energy to Grünwald, just before the break-even point. Now, given the price of fossil fuels, it would make a good profit. Actually, it’s not about envy. Grünwald can only afford the low tax rate because there are large communities in the neighborhood that cannot because they have to provide much more infrastructure than small ones. Ultimately, Grünwald lives at the expense of the city.
But isn’t it morally reprehensible if companies use the infrastructure elsewhere and are registered in Grünwald and pay their taxes there?
That’s the other problem. And it actually shows a weakness in our system. Some things are legally possible, but we feel it is unfair. This has also led to the fact that for decades the neighboring municipality has been given an industrial park. Unterhaching did the same with Taufkirchen. At the moment we are running the risk of the fresh air corridor on our doorstep in Neubiberg being paved over. So something is wrong in the system, but it doesn’t have to be illegal. The other point is of course the illegal things, front companies and tax fraud. Many companies that have not been audited for decades. Of course, this is only possible if there are no appropriate controls.
A well-secured fortress: Grünwald Castle.
(Photo: Claus Schunk)
The municipality of Grünwald says it’s not their job to control the companies. Can you as a community make it so easy for yourself and sit back and relax?
The community is actually not responsible, definitely not, but the tax offices of the Free State. You have to say very clearly: Edmund Stoiber brutally cut back on the authorities and we are still lagging behind to this day. We are currently in the budget deliberations for the Free State of Bavaria and have again submitted an application for more positions for the tax authorities, specifically for candidate positions, which was once again rejected by the coalition in Bavaria. Our offices can only work with the staff they have. It also has to be said that during the corona pandemic, a large part of the workforce was moved from the tax authorities to the health authorities to help out. It is clear that the tax audits cannot then take place within the required framework.
Was it really just the lack of staff that they didn’t do enough? Or does something fundamentally need to change?
Some things are legal. A test would not bring any different result. The error is already in the construct. In my opinion, trade tax is difficult in itself because it is designed as a profit tax. Even if the number of companies remains the same in one place, trade tax revenue can also fluctuate due to economic fluctuations. However, the costs that a municipality has are relatively constant, for schools, childcare, road rehabilitation, water supply, and waste disposal. Every municipality is therefore always interested in attracting even more businesses and thus sealing up even more space. Maybe turn a blind eye. Or then just to outdo each other in the competition who can offer the lower assessment rate. This in turn damages the community, from which the company then migrates.
Isn’t it lacking in solidarity with the other communities? Some cannot compete in this competition. Perhaps they don’t have the staying power to first lower the assessment rate and then wait for the companies to come.
Some also no longer have the space available to attract new business. Some have also set out and said that we want to be more sustainable with our areas and not bombard them with new businesses. Of course, they are at a disadvantage when there are economic fluctuations in a certain industry and they collect less trade tax. The competition is probably lacking in solidarity. The municipalities that need stabilization aids must have a minimum rate that corresponds to the average rate in Bavaria. But it’s not enough. We can see that if there are such big differences in one district alone, that is of course not fair.
There has been this minimum multiplier of 200 since 2004. Before that there were even municipalities with a multiplier of zero. Do you have to improve it again by law?
I don’t know if simply stipulating the assessment rate is enough. I dare to doubt that. One would have to take a closer look and also consider a distribution, so that one tries to coordinate better between the municipalities, at least for regions or districts. Especially when the municipalities are right next to each other. There’s still homework. You should have an open discussion. This is federal policy, of course, but it will take time. You watched the scissors grow for a long time. In any case, it must be stopped that the public sector rents buildings that are home to such letterbox companies.
The people of Grünwald say they had no intention of becoming a tax haven. Do you think so?
Right at the beginning. I also believe that they initially benefited from large companies. But in the meantime, anyone with political responsibility there must be aware that there are an awful lot of shell companies in Grünwald. About 8,000 companies in about 6,000 households – it is actually clear that this is not normal.
But all in all, the district also benefits from it, doesn’t it?
Of course, the district also gets more in absolute numbers via the district allocation. But is that the goal? The district would also get the money if it were better distributed to the municipalities. You have to take a look at it, it’s really absurd that you only have one locker or one mailbox, that there are doorbells with 40 companies. It’s clear to everyone that that can’t really be the way of doing business.
The municipality of Pullach also has such a low assessment rate, namely 260, and in your party friend Susanna Millennium, a green mayor. Does she have to have a bad conscience now?
No, I don’t think that you have to have a bad conscience with the assessment rate. The same applies to Pullach: The mayor is not responsible for carrying out the controls of the financial authorities on site. The Free State is really responsible for examining the companies. Especially when cases have been in the press for years. When we talk to the authorities, it always comes out that companies of a certain size cannot be inspected for decades. But as I said, some things would certainly be legal if you take a closer look. I am assuming that no public building will be rented out to letterbox companies in a green-led municipality.