German Bundestag, Plenarprotokoll 20/29, pp.
2563-2564.
Right honorable Frau President. Right honorable colleagues.
Before all things in this place: Esteemed citizens and taxpayers.
Today we speak in a first reading on the so-called tax
relief act. Dear Ampel men and women –
self-evidently – we truly welcome that you slowly arrive at reality and, due to
inflation, get underway relief for the citizens. We of the AfD for very long
already demand this; this, however, you have steadily refused to do.
We should nevertheless remain with the truth: One of the
measures which you here extol as relief, namely the increase of the basic
allowance, was and is nothing other than the exemption of the income tax subsistence
minimum. It is thus money which you have previously taken from the citizens
with your failed energy and tax policy, ladies and gentlemen.
Since we yesterday and in recent days have seen that for you
it has nothing to do with legality and statute, I want, with the permission of
the President, to cite from the November 10, 1998, conclusion of the Federal
Constitutional Court’s Second Senate, which you hopefully still heed. There it
is stated:
The income tax subsistence minimum is for all those obligated to pay taxes – independent of their individual tax bracket – completely exempt from the income tax.
What you are thus doing here is statute and legality, and
not relief of the citizens. You give back to them what you have taken from them
by means of an inflation caused by you, ladies and gentlemen.
If we are concerned with the basic allowance: In a draft
law, you make an accounting of how you arrive at your value of 10,347 euros.
This is 3 percent; colleague Güntzler said it. You meanwhile perform this
relief at an inflation rate of 7.4 percent. We thereby know today – summed up –
that you call something “relief” – which you need to do – and this relief – and
you know this – is much too little and you thereby in the end do not at all
fulfill the guiding principle of the Federal Constitutional Court. I call that
a violation of the law.
Well intended is not always well done; that pertains
primarily to Social Democrats. We will in this regard bring in a motion to
amend so as to improve. You clearly need to increase the basic allowance. We
will put into play a proposal for at least 12,000 euros.
Similarly, ladies and gentlemen, the increase put forward for the commuting allowance: The fuel prices in comparison have increased around 70 cents or more. It besides can certainly do one good – yet I believe this is an ideological libel, and therefore you do not do this – to look it up at the ADAC [General German Automobile Club]. Here we read of a price increase of almost 50 percent. And, for that, the commuting allowance – dear citizens, listen to this one – will be increased not even a tenth, and indeed from the 21stkilometer. That is labeling fraud. I say “phooey” to that which you have left over for the people who commute and who each day toil at work in your decrepit infrastructure, ladies and gentlemen.
Not least – I cannot spare you; since for me it is pleasant –
Fritz Güntzler, dear Union, you have arrived in the opposition.
Fritz Güntzler (CDU/CSU): Just recently.
Fine! Congratulations! Personally, I can profit plenty from
your motion. And you know why. Especially in regards point 5, I must in fact be
pleased. On the theme of ‘cold progression”, we are obviously approaching. It
is nice that you finally perceive this, especially as it applies to the
adjustable rate [Tarif an Rädern],
which we will again bring in until you react accordingly and now slowly, like
yesterday, arrive at the AfD line.
Yet to do something in the long-term against the
unexpectedly high inflation, we should not only finally index the real rate of
the income tax. We will in the next weeks also propose to put forward automatic
adjustments corresponding to the inflation; since you cannot do it, ladies and
gentlemen of the Ampel. Here, there
is talk of allowances, allowance limits and lump-sum allowances. You have
plainly said it, Herr Lindner: Here, for eleven years, nothing has happened.
You were besides once in the government and were then justifiably thrown out;
that I also prognosticate for you at the next Federal election. In any case,
here we need to proceed to an automatic indexing.
The best for last: Herr Mordhorst – I know not whether he is
present – you said, the real rate adjustment and the adjustable rate would not
work. Keyword: “Spin-out”. Here I recommend a very good mathematical treatment –
of which perhaps some here in house are still capable – and in fact a
simulation by Hans-Georg Petersen who has come to the result that a fair relief
is only to be guaranteed when correspondingly a systematic indexing is
undertaken.
We will critically and fairly accompany you through the
consultations. We are therein glad, especially because the CDU/CSU – I can only
repeat myself – has arrived in the opposition. Congratulations!
Thorsten Frei (CDU/CSU): Yet no one disputes that!
Thanks.
[trans: tem]
