There are state elections in Bavaria in three months – and at their retreat in the Andechs monastery, the CSU is positioning itself with several tax cut proposals. There were attacks in the direction of AfD and traffic lights.
Just under three months before the Bavarian state elections, the CSU is calling for the complete abolition of value added tax on staple foods, lower energy taxes and the abolition of inheritance tax on the parental home. Party leader Markus Söder and CDU chairman Friedrich Merz also clearly distanced themselves from the AfD at the CSU retreat in Andechs Monastery in Upper Bavaria and sharply attacked the traffic light coalition in the federal government.
The CSU demands “zero VAT” for all staple foods, said Söder – “not just for vegetables, not just for organic, but also for meat, for fish, for milk”. And also for all other things that were part of the staple food. According to the European Value Added Tax Directive, this is also possible. Relief is needed for the middle and for all normal earners, according to Söder. “Shopping in the supermarket must be possible again.”
The CSU leader went beyond his party’s election program for the state elections, which had only been presented a few weeks ago. Merz called the demand a “proposal worth considering”. According to CSU calculations, the possible relief for a four-person household would be around 1,000 euros per year – Söder had initially mistakenly spoken of 8,000 to 9,000 euros.
question of funding
In addition, Söder repeated the demand for lower energy taxes: the electricity tax must be reduced to the European minimum, and that applies to all ordinary people.
According to him, the costs for the state would be around twelve billion euros. This is also possible in these times.
However, Söder said nothing about how specifically the individual proposals should be financed in times of tight budgets. Only Merz responded to a corresponding request that the goal should be higher economic output and, as a result, higher tax revenues. “Therein lies the key to solving the problems.”
“Against climate protection with the crowbar”
In addition, according to the ideas of the CSU, anyone who inherits or is given their parents’ house should not have to pay any taxes in the future. If the heir or recipient does not sell the house or apartment within ten years, but instead moves in or rents it out himself, he should not pay any inheritance or gift tax. The presidencies of the CDU and CSU recently passed a paper in which it says – but without further details – “No to inheritance tax on the parental home”. In June, the Free State – as the only state – filed a lawsuit in Karlsruhe against the structure of the inheritance tax.
Söder also reiterated the call to the federal government to finally stop the controversial heating law. “We are against climate protection with a crowbar.”
Traffic light allegations
Söder and CSU state group leader Alexander Dobrindt sharply attacked the traffic light coalition in the federal government. Dobrindt spoke of an “arrogance traffic light” in which the dispute reigns. Above all, there is a great “disrespect” towards families and their performance. On the other hand, the CSU demands more respect for families, for performance, for security, according to Dobrindt. That’s why they don’t want to abolish parental allowance, for example, but expand it and make overtime tax-free.
Like Merz, Söder and Dobrindt also sharply differentiated themselves from the AfD. Söder warned of a weakening of the stability of democracy: “Voting AfD may have one motive: I might show them. But in the end you destabilize democracy and weaken our country.” Söder added: “Franz Josef Strauss would probably have described the AfD as Moscow’s fifth column, because they are probably the most loyal vassals that the Kremlin is currently finding in Germany.” Therefore, from the point of view of the CSU, not only a clear demarcation is needed, but also a fight against the AfD, emphasized the party leader.
Söder blamed the politics and style of government of the traffic light parties for the fact that many people apparently asked the “system question”. “This is a forced marriage of partners who would like to get divorced every day,” he criticized.
Merz announced that the Union would “much more” set its own agenda, its own issues and make its own proposals in the coming period – more specifically than has been the case so far. The Union will show that it is “an alternative for Germany with substance”. With a view to the elections in three eastern countries in the coming year, he announced that he would appeal to the “reason” of the voters: “A vote for the AfD is a vote for the traffic light.”