Federal Government
Lindner: Don’t get involved in coalition games
FDP leader and Federal Finance Minister: Christian Lindner. photo
© Ann-Marie Utz/dpa
The FDP repeatedly clashes with its coalition partners, the SPD and the Greens. In an interview, the party leader is now asked whether he will let the alliance collapse.
FDP leader Christian Lindner has countered speculation about his party’s exit from the traffic light coalition.
“There is always a lot of nervousness in Berlin. I recommend concentrating on the matter at hand,” the Federal Finance Minister told the “Handelsblatt” when asked “Will you let the coalition collapse?” The federal government must agree on a budget for the coming year and a concept to overcome the weak growth, added Lindner. “If this is successful, the speculation will disappear.”
There are always tensions between the FDP and its coalition partners, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s SPD and, above all, the Greens. There is currently a dispute about the planned basic child support and Lindner’s ideas for income tax relief.
“Have a good memory”
In the interview, Lindner also distanced himself from the opposition Union, whose previous government actions he criticized. Many of the problems currently needing to be solved were related to the previous CDU-led government, said Lindner. “We had to end the asylum chaos and the dependence on Russian gas. I’m thinking of a CSU that preferred to deal with illegal tolls instead of digitalization.” And added: “Because I have a good memory, I don’t take part in coalition games.”
Lindner reiterated his call for income tax relief. This is about balancing the so-called cold progression. This refers to the effect of inflation on income tax. “This is a question of justice, anything else would be a secret, cowardly tax increase,” said Lindner.
As a rule, to compensate for the cold progression, several adjustment screws in the tax tariff are adjusted: the basic tax allowance, i.e. the income up to which no tax has to be paid, and also the limit above which the top tax rate of 42 percent is due. In response to Lindner, representatives of the SPD and the Greens made it clear that they primarily wanted to relieve the burden on small and medium incomes.
Taxes on the rich should remain unchanged
Lindner made it clear in the “Handelsblatt” that he is prepared to leave the threshold for the so-called rich tax unchanged – as was the case with the recent inflation adjustment of the tax rates. “Yes, I am sticking exactly to the 2022 agreement. I hope the same from the coalition partners,” said the minister in response to a question. At the time, the federal government deliberately did not touch the benchmark for the tax on the rich because it did not consider any additional relief necessary for this income bracket.
The rich tax applies from a taxable income of 277,826 euros or twice that amount for married couples. Anything above the limit is then taxed at 45 percent.