The Growth Opportunities Act is also delayed due to the budget crisis

The planned Growth Opportunities Act will probably no longer be passed this year. Because of the lack of a budget, federal and state representatives were unable to agree on a compromise.

With the help of tax relief, the federal government wants to stimulate the economy with the so-called Growth Opportunities Act – including through bonuses for investments in climate protection and better depreciation conditions for housing construction. The Bundestag had already approved the law. However, the states fear high tax losses and have therefore contacted the mediation committee.

However: The Mediation Committee is unlikely to meet again this year – internal discussions to find a solution have initially failed. Mainly because the framework conditions have not been clarified due to the lack of a budget for 2024.

Union circles said that since the traffic light’s draft budget was not yet available, there was currently no basis to continue the mediation process. Only when it is known for the 2024 budget whether and which taxes will be increased by the traffic light or which subsidies have to be canceled will there be a basis for negotiations on the Growth Opportunities Act.

CSU: Law revision is unclear

The Bavarian Finance Minister Albert Füracker sees responsibility for the failure of the traffic light coalition: The offer to revise the Growth Opportunities Act is unclear and, above all, inadequate. According to the CSU politician, urgently needed tax relief could no longer be implemented this year.

FDP parliamentary group vice-president Christoph Meyer, on the other hand, sees the blame on the states, especially those led by the Union. The one-dimensional view of the costs of the planned measures is “very unfortunate” given the economic situation, said Meyer.

The SPD parliamentary group deputy Achim Post said: “I very much regret that the Union was not prepared to engage in serious substantive negotiations on a federal-state compromise on the Growth Opportunities Act and that it broke off the talks today. In doing so, the Union is preventing an important growth stimulus for unrelated reasons Companies and employees in our country.”

Further projects affected because the committee is not meeting

Two other traffic light projects also remain in limbo: the hospital transparency law and new regulations in road traffic law – both laws were stopped by the Federal Council at the end of November and are to be clarified in the mediation committee.