Campaign appearances: Laschet and Scholz differentiate themselves from each other in tax policy

The Chancellor candidates from the Union and the SPD emphasized their different tax policies at the start of the hot phase of the election campaign.

Union chancellor candidate Armin Laschet accused the SPD, the Greens and the Left on Saturday of endangering the upswing in Germany with planned tax increases.

"Tax increases are poison," said the CDU boss on Saturday at an event organized by the Junge Union in Giessen.

SPD chancellor candidate Olaf Scholz, on the other hand, called tax cuts for particularly high incomes "immoral" when appearing in Bochum.

Six weeks before the federal election, the two top candidates made clear efforts to emphasize the differences in content, including in tax and financial policy.

"Some are of the opinion that people who earn as much as I do, or even more, need a real tax relief," said the Federal Minister of Finance, alluding to the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge and further relief from companies, for example.

"This is not only unfinanced, it is not based on solidarity and is immoral," says the SPD top candidate.

Spahn calls for a black zero

Laschet, on the other hand, emphasized the Union's strict rejection of tax increases in the phase after the corona pandemic. “We will do everything we can to ensure that it does not come to that.” On the contrary, the economy needs to be “unleashed”, also by reducing bureaucracy.

From Monday, voters can request postal voting documents. The Union wants to start its official election campaign next weekend with an event with Laschet, Chancellor Angela Merkel and CSU boss Markus Söder. Laschet spoke on Saturday of a "choice of direction". He accused the Greens of mendacity in climate policy and also attacked Scholz. His predecessor Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU), as finance minister, ensured a balanced budget without tax increases. Health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU) had previously emphasized that the return to a black zero in the federal budget was important.

While Laschet and the Union argue that an economic upswing leads to higher tax revenues, the SPD, the Greens and the Left accuse the Union that it is unrealistic to reject tax increases and to strive for investments and a balanced budget at the same time.

Scholz does not want an increase in the retirement age

Laschet and Scholz also emphasized differences in other areas of politics. In climate policy, for example, there is agreement on the goal of a climate-neutral Germany, but not on the way to get there, said Laschet. The goal must be for Germany to remain an industrialized country, said the CDU leader and warned against an emigration, for example, of the steel industry. At the same time, the conversion to a CO2-neutral economy must be socially cushioned. Planning procedures would have to be simplified. The alternative in the federal election is “red-green bureaucracy” or “more freedom and entrepreneurship” with the Union as the leading force in a new government.

Scholz, in turn, accused the Union of not understanding anything about economics.

In the first year of his chancellorship there will be a realistic definition of the electricity demand so that the cement industry, chemical industry and steel industry can invest.

Germany is facing a second industrial revolution so that it will succeed in being carbon-neutral in just under 25 years.

In social policy, Scholz underlined the rejection of a further increase in the retirement age beyond 67 years.

CDU boss Laschet had also ruled out an increase.

The SPD candidate for chancellor wants to "push through the raising of the minimum wage to twelve euros in the first year of my chancellorship".

The SPD also wants to ensure that 400,000 new apartments are built every year, 100,000 of them in social housing.