Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner has announced a tax cut for the coming year because of the high prices. It’s about low earners, but also the “working middle,” said the FDP politician on Monday in Berlin. By abolishing the so-called cold progression, they should be relieved.
Cold progression is a kind of creeping tax hike, when a pay rise is eaten up by inflation but still results in higher taxation.
Lindner also rejected reports that he had prevented further relief for low earners in the traffic light coalition. “On the contrary, I propose it,” he emphasized. The Minister of Finance explained on Twitter that he wanted, among other things, a higher basic allowance and a fair wage and income tax rate for 2023. That is compatible with the debt brake.
Lindner presented his French colleague Bruno Le Maire with the Grand Cross of Merit with Star and Ribbon. He paid tribute to Le Maire as a longtime shaper of Franco-German friendship.
Le Maire stressed that the relationship between the ministers and the two countries has never been stronger than it is now. He also advocated stable finances and temporary relief measures for the population.