CSU politician Florian Dorn rejected the criticism from the SPD regarding his tax concept, defending the planned tax relief measures as applicable even to higher income earners. Speaking to the business magazine “Capital” on Wednesday, Dorn stated that the controversy highlighted a fundamental disagreement about where the middle class begins and ends. “If we want to ease the burden on the broad working middle, we must therefore include income levels that are today often considered to be ‘better earners'” he commented.
Dorn emphasized that the middle class today extends much further into higher income brackets, suggesting that depending on the definition, it can stretch up to the top five percent of earners. He also pointed out that the top ten percent of the population currently contribute approximately 60 percent of the total tax revenue.
Furthermore, Dorn addressed the taxation of the wealthy, stating that he advocated for a slight increase in the top tax rate and suggested that it should become applicable at a lower income threshold. He proposed that, instead of currently requiring a minimum taxable income of around 278,000 euros, the increased tax rate should be mandatory starting at 210,000 euros.
