SHARE
COPY LINK

WEALTH

Leftists demand 100 percent tax on the rich

Germany's socialist Left party want a 100 percent tax on anyone earning over €500,000 and will be including the policy in their general election campaign platform, a newspaper reported on Friday.

Leftists demand 100 percent tax on the rich
Photo: DPA

“We are suggesting that no-one should earn over 40 times the societal minimum,” said The Left’s co-leader Katja Kipping in the party’s draft election platform, which was seen by regional newspaper the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung.

The party paper said the total tax on those taking home over €40,000 per month would be used to fund social welfare and investing in the country’s future.

“Explosive inequality is threatening democracy,” said co-leader Bernd Riexinger. “I call capping income at half a million euros a democracy tax.”

The upcoming campaign for Germany’s election in September was going to be one focused on wealth redistribution, said Riexinger.

The Left, born from a merger of former East German communists and disgruntled trade unionists, has struggled to raise its profile under its new leadership after failing to make political capital from the global financial crisis. It sits in the Bundestag and several state parliaments, but failed to win representation in Lower Saxony last month.

Tacking hard to the left with its 100 percent tax idea could mean the party has given up all hope of tempting the centre-left Social Democrats into a coalition at the federal level after this September’s general election.

French President Francois Hollande tried recently to impose a 75 percent tax on top earners, but was struck down by the country’s courts.

DPA/The Local/jcw

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

TAXES

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark’s employment allowance?

Denmark's government may soon announce changes to its tax reform plans, which will give all wage earners a bigger employment allowance. What is this and how will it affect foreigners' earnings?

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark's employment allowance?

What is the employment allowance? 

The Beskæftigelsesfradraget (from beskæftigelse, meaning employment, and fradrag, meaning rebate) was brought in by the centre-right Liberal Party back in 2004, the idea being that it would incentivise people to get off welfare and into a job.

Everyone whose employer pays Denmark’s 8 percent AM-bidrag, or arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, automatically receives beskæftigelsesfradraget. Unlike with some of Denmark’s tax rebates, there is no need to apply. The Danish Tax Agency simply exempts the first portion of your earnings from income taxes. 

In 2022, beskæftigelsesfradraget was set at 10.65 percent of income with a maximum rebate of 44,800 kroner. 

How did the government agree to change the employment allowance in its coalition deal? 

In Responsibility for Denmark, the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderate Party, the new government said it would set aside 5 billion kroner for tax reforms.

Of this, 4 billion kroner was earmarked for increasing the employment allowance, with a further 0.3 billion going towards increasing an additional employment allowance for single parents.

According to the public broadcaster DR, the expectation was that this would increase the standard employment  allowance to 12.75 percent up to a maximum rebate of 53,600 kroner. 

How might this be further increased, according to Børsen? 

According to a report in the Børsen newspaper, the government now plans to set aside a further 1.75 billion kroner for tax reforms, of which nearly half — about 800 million kroner — will go towards a further increase to the employment allowance. 

The Danish Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released an analysis in which it argued that by raising removing all limits on the rebate for single parents and raising the maximum rebate for everone else by 20,300 kroner, the government could increase the labour supply by 4,850 people, more than double the 1,500 envisaged in the government agreement. 

According to the Børsen, the government estimates that its new extended allowance will increase the labour supply by 5,150 people.  

SHOW COMMENTS