CDU/CSU on finance and taxes

The CDU and the CSU want to lower income tax in several steps. The rate curve is to become flatter, the basic tax-free allowance is to rise, and the top rate is to apply only at a considerably higher income. The platform argues that the burden of taxes and contributions is too high.

The CDU and the CSU want to lower the tax on income. More income should stay tax-free. The highest tax rate should start later. Commuters should also pay less tax. Extra pay for overtime should be tax-free.

The tax schedule is to be flattened step by step and the basic allowance raised. The income threshold for the top rate is to go up considerably. The schedule and inflation-sensitive deductions are to be adjusted regularly to price increases to offset bracket creep. The commuter allowance is to rise, which the platform says mainly helps people in rural areas. Overtime premiums for full-time employees are to become tax-free. At the EU level, the parties want energy tax and sales tax on everyday goods to be reducible quickly in crises.

The CDU and the CSU want to gradually lower the tax on retained business profits to no more than 25 percent. Better rules for losses and depreciation come on top. In the platform's view, Germany is a high-tax country and must become competitive on its tax burden.

The CDU and the CSU want to lower taxes for companies. Profits that stay in the company should be taxed at 25 percent at most. Companies should be able to count losses and purchases better against tax. Family companies should be spared when they are inherited.

The statutory rate burden is to fall, and the option model and the preferential treatment of retained earnings are to be improved considerably. There is to be more choice and permeability between the tax systems for corporations and partnerships. Loss carryback is to be expanded, and the minimum-taxation limit on loss carryforward is to be dropped. The depreciation tables are to be rewritten and digitized, supplemented by so-called turbo depreciation. Family businesses are not to be taxed on their substance when inherited, and successions are to become simpler.

The CDU and the CSU want to abolish the remaining solidarity surcharge entirely. In their view it has served its purpose and can no longer be justified almost 35 years after reunification.

The CDU and the CSU want to end the solidarity surcharge completely. This is an extra tax. Today companies, people with high incomes and savers still pay it. The parties say: this tax has done its job.

The part of the surcharge that still exists is to be dropped completely. The platform argues that it burdens companies, skilled workers and savers. The abolition is part of the major tax reform the parties announce.

The CDU and the CSU want to cut the sales tax on food served in restaurants to seven percent. The measure is one of the steps by which the parties want to reduce the tax burden on business.

The CDU and the CSU want a lower tax on meals in restaurants. The sales tax there should be 7 percent. This should help restaurants.

The rate for meals in restaurants and pubs is to drop to the reduced rate of seven percent. At present the standard rate of 19 percent applies there. The platform lists the cut under the heading of lowering the "gastro tax" as part of the planned tax reform.

The CDU and the CSU want to make tax law simpler, strike rules and digitize procedures. Retirees are generally no longer to have to file a tax return. The platform sees tax bureaucracy as a heavy burden on citizens and companies.

The CDU and the CSU want simpler tax rules. Retirees should mostly not have to file a tax return anymore. There should be more flat amounts instead of single receipts. Companies should keep receipts for only 5 years.

Accounting records are to be kept for only five instead of eight years, which requires faster and more automated tax audits. Pensions are to be taxed at source, and double taxation of pensions is to be avoided. More flat-rate amounts and standardized rules are to simplify income tax in particular, with the goal of fully automated assessment. For import sales tax, the offset model is to apply. The language of tax laws is to become easier to understand, and AI is to help tax authorities with checks and fighting fraud.

The CDU and the CSU want to ease the tax burden on buying and inheriting owner-occupied homes. They reject a wealth tax because they do not want to burden people who have built something up.

The CDU and the CSU want more families to own a home. The first purchase should be taxed less. Inheriting a home should also be taxed less. The parties do not want a tax on wealth.

The states are to be allowed to grant an allowance on the real estate transfer tax for the first purchase of a home people live in themselves: 250,000 euros per adult plus 150,000 euros per child. Inheritance tax allowances are to rise considerably so that a family home can more often be passed on tax-free. Instead of a wealth tax, the parties want to support everyone in building wealth.

The CDU and the CSU want to make it easier for employees, especially those with low and middle incomes, to build wealth. A new bonus, higher tax allowances, and more attractive stakes in one's own company are meant to serve that goal.

The CDU and the CSU want workers to be able to save more easily. There should be a new bonus from the government for this. It mainly helps people with low pay. People who get shares in their company should pay less tax.

The new wealth-building bonus merges two existing subsidies; the amount is to rise considerably and the income limits are to be made uniform. An allowance is planned for returns on vermögenswirksame Leistungen (employer-funded savings), growing with each extra year of saving, with a holding period of ten years. For employee share ownership, the income tax allowance is to rise considerably, and tax is generally to be due only at the time of sale. Within the EU, the parties push for harmonized rules.

The CDU and the CSU want to leave the constitutional debt brake unchanged. They justify this with fairness between generations. At the start of the legislative term, all federal spending is to be reviewed, especially subsidies.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep the debt brake. This is a rule in the constitution. It allows the state only a little new debt. The parties want to check all spending. Spending without benefit should end.

According to the platform, the debt brake obliges politicians to make do with available revenue and has proven flexible even in crises. A full review of the books is planned right after the election. Spending that fails to meet its goal is to be cut to create room for the parties' own projects. The federal budget is to be modernized and geared more toward goals and results.

The CDU and the CSU want to preserve cash so that everyone can choose how to pay in everyday life. They support a digital euro only under certain conditions. They are open in principle to new payment methods.

The CDU and the CSU want to keep cash. Everyone should decide how to pay. The parties accept a digital euro only under conditions. It should not replace cash.

The platform describes cash as an expression of freedom. In the parties' view, a digital euro would need to offer real added benefit and only supplement cash. It must not endanger the stability of the financial system. It would also have to protect privacy and be free to use.