Status: 10/31/2021 11:47 a.m.
In the tax dispute between the Ampel partners, FDP boss Lindner still considers relief for the “working middle” to be possible. He rejected the statements by the SPD and the Greens that this could only be implemented with “tax increases elsewhere”.
In the coalition negotiations between the SPD, the Greens and the FDP, the tone becomes rougher with the entry into the struggle for the details: FDP boss Christian Lindner criticized the potential partners for their statements on tax policy and does not want to be blamed if there is none Should give tax relief for medium-sized and low-wage earners. It is “a myth that relief for the working middle class can only be financed with compensatory tax increases elsewhere,” said Lindner of “Bild am Sonntag”.
SPD Chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz and Green leader Robert Habeck, among others, recently stated that tax relief for lower and middle incomes was not possible because the FDP refused to counter-finance the tax increase for top earners.
“Unfortunately, I take from public statements by the chairmen of the SPD and the Greens that both apparently no longer pursue the relief of low and normal wage earners,” said Lindner. It is now “reality that the SPD and the Greens, after their election campaigns for more redistribution, are ruling out the FDP’s demand for tax relief for everyone. We have to accept that.” But: “The aim of strengthening the center should not become a standstill program,” said Linder, emphasizing his party’s willingness to continue discussions.
He emphasized: “New taxes on assets would weaken family businesses with millions of employees and ultimately damage our state’s financial base.”
Söder warns of a division in society
Meanwhile, CSU boss Markus Söder warned that government participation by the Greens and the FDP could drive society apart. “You have to be careful that the traffic lights don’t divide our society,” he said.
Söder emphasized: “There is a threat of a coalition of supposedly know-it-alls from the Greens and higher-income FDP.”
But Söder did not assume that the coalition negotiations between the SPD, Greens and FDP could still fail. The CSU must strengthen its social and ecological competence in the opposition and work for internal security, he said. As an example he named among other things “no unrestrained immigration to Germany”.