The German tax union expects a new edition of the solidarity surcharge because of the immense costs caused by the corona pandemic and the Ukraine war.
"The financial burden on the federal government is increasing rapidly every day due to all the crises," said union chairman Thomas Eigenthaler of the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and the "Stuttgarter Nachrichten".
From his point of view, these costs “cannot be met without a solidarity update”.
The soli has been levied since 1995 to cover the costs of German unity, most recently it was 5.5 percent of income and corporation tax.
Last year, the surcharge was abolished for around 90 percent of citizens.
“We have to have this debate”
In the end, politicians will not be able to keep up with the fact that only a few taxpayers provide additional financial solidarity, said Eigenthaler.
He therefore predicts that the federal government will “sooner or later ask around 80 percent of taxpayers to pay again”.
Moritz Kraemer, chief economist at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW), also campaigned for the reintroduction of the solidarity surcharge.
Most recently, after German reunification, the country had such “Herculean tasks” ahead of it, Kraemer told the German Press Agency, referring to the Ukraine war and climate change.
Baden-Württemberg's Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz (Greens) also said that the traffic light coalition's decision not to raise taxes in the legislature was hardly tenable.
Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) said on Tuesday that it was good that the chief economist at Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW) and his finance minister had initiated the debate.
"We have to have this debate," says Kretschmann.
It is not an easy decision to reintroduce solos and economists disagree.
But always only going into debt is "certainly not the last word of wisdom." This would only postpone the burdens until later.
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr, on the other hand, stated that he did not believe in tax increase debates.