Andreas Bovenschulte, the Chief of Government in Bremen (SPD), has advocated for implementing a tax on ultra-wealthy individuals. Speaking to the newspaper “Die Zeit”, he argued that given the current geopolitical crises, certain sacrifices should be expected from all citizens. However, he challenged the premise of unequal demands, questioning why the burden should only fall on one side. He specifically pointed to the approximately 5,000 people in Germany whose financial assets account for a quarter of the country’s total wealth, stating that “it is simply impossible to say that everything can remain the way it is for them.”
This demand is considered highly contentious because both the CDU/CSU (Union) and the SPD have previously agreed on a tax reform that includes a higher tax rate for the wealthy, but crucially, does not include a wealth tax.
According to Bovenschulte’s proposal, this tax should target the roughly 5,000 Germans who, based on a recent Boston Consulting Group study, control financial assets valued at over $100 million. He then proposed, “What is the objection to taxing these assets with an annual rate of about one percent?”
