Erfurt (dpa/th) – The Erfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce (IHK) has warned of an increase in the top tax rate. “In times of crisis, every tax increase represents a further burden for the regional economy and should therefore be a no-go,” said the general manager of the IHK Erfurt, Cornelia Haase-Lerch, on Tuesday. Such a tax increase would not only affect private individuals, but also many companies. Haase-Lerch was reacting to an initiative by the Thuringian SPD leader Georg Maier, who had called for an at least temporary increase in the tax rate for higher earners on Monday.
The top tax rate is currently 42 percent. People with higher incomes have to pay it. The limit is currently 58,597 euros for taxable annual income, but will be higher from next year – at 62,827 euros.
Maier had argued that the necessary relief for private households and companies would lead to a heavy burden on public budgets. This reduces future opportunities to invest in the transformation of the economy and energy supply. It is a requirement of fairness and justice that high earners make a solidary contribution to society as a whole, said Maier, who is also interior and local minister in Thuringia.
Haase-Lerch called for a decision on relief for companies. “Less bureaucracy and the simplification and acceleration of administrative procedures, for example in the area of ??approval for renewable energy projects, would be effective measures,” she explained. In her opinion, such measures would not burden the state coffers, would increase the earning power of companies and thus expand the tax base. “The state has demonstrably not had an income problem in recent years, but rather an expenditure problem.”
