The AfD welcomes the proposals of CDU general secretary Carsten Linnemann for reform of the top tax rate and the citizen’s allowance.
René Springer, the AfD’s spokesperson on labour and social policy, told the “Welt” that the middle class must be relieved through a fundamental tax reform. He said citizens suffer from an historically high overall burden of taxes and social contributions and that “tangible relief is needed for wage earners, families and the working middle class – not just a few homeopathic corrections right before the CDU party convention”. Springer added that Linnemann’s reform proposal concerning earnings limits on the citizen’s allowance is “going in the right direction” but that it will ultimately fail in the Bundestag against the SPD’s work‑averse stance.
Linnemann, in the “Bild am Sonntag” had called for the top tax rate to be applied only on gross annual incomes above €80,000 and for stricter earnings rules on the citizen’s allowance.
The Greens rejected Linnemann’s plan sharply. Andreas Audretsch, deputy leader of the Green parliamentary group, told the “Welt” that millions of people will first be branded as lazy and then ignored and forgotten by the CDU. He argued for a tax cut on electricity for all low‑ and middle‑income earners, saying that Linnemann is breaking the principle that more work should pay off. Audretsch warned that taking more money from people when they work is absurd, and stressed that the Greens want to employ as many people as possible, trusting that each additional hour of work will translate into more money in the wallet.
The Left criticised Linnemann’s top‑rate proposal as “one‑sided and chaotic”. Doris Achelwilm, the Left’s spokesperson on tax policy, said the initiative was a “double package” that also targets those receiving supplementary citizen’s allowance or basic security. She criticised the plan as “an insult” arguing that it would again take from people with little money. Linnemann, she said, seeks to amplify existing inequalities in the tax system. She noted that lower and middle incomes should be relieved, for example, by raising the basic exemption, and added that a wealth tax is also needed.
