CDU on finance and taxes

The CDU commits to the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) and wants to close the gap in the state's financial planning without raising taxes. The main reason given is fairness between generations.

The CDU wants the state to take on almost no new debt. This rule is called the debt brake. Taxes should not go up for this. The state should slow its spending growth and still invest a lot.

The state budget is to be put in order by limiting spending growth while also stimulating the economy. Repayment of the Covid emergency loans is to start on schedule. In the long run, the CDU aims for an investment share of ten percent and wants to keep reducing the repair backlog, which the program calls hidden debt. The state's pension reserve fund is to be expanded and earn higher returns to relieve future budgets.

The CDU wants to move the state budget over the coming years from cash-based accounting to Doppik, the double-entry bookkeeping modeled on commercial law. This is meant to avoid misallocation and make decisions easier for citizens to follow.

Today the state only records income and spending. The CDU wants a different kind of bookkeeping. It is called Doppik. It also shows assets and debts. This should make it clearer how the state handles money.

According to the program, the current cash-based system records neither claims nor liabilities and does not distinguish investments from consumption spending. Public assets are also not set against debts. The program points out that Hamburg, Hesse, North Rhine-Westphalia and Lower Saxony have already switched and that about 70 percent of local governments in the state use Doppik. For the remaining municipalities it applies from 2024 at the latest.

The CDU does not consider the federal model for the Grundsteuer (property tax) the best method and wants to use the opt-out clause for the states. Schleswig-Holstein is to get its own model, which the party sees as simpler and fairer.

Owners of land and houses pay property tax. The federal government has a model for it. The CDU finds it too complicated. It wants a separate, simpler model for Schleswig-Holstein.

The CDU wants to examine the models used in Hamburg, Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, which it describes as far less complicated. It then wants to decide on the future model and the date of introduction. The aim is to collect the tax with as little paperwork as possible.

The CDU wants to act more firmly against tax fraud, aggressive tax planning and money laundering, and to tax corporations where they generate their revenue. At the same time, dealing with the tax office is to become simpler and more digital.

The CDU wants to fight tax fraud and money laundering harder. Big corporations should pay taxes where they earn money. People should be able to file taxes online. In simple cases an app should be enough.

Authorities are to be networked nationwide. In the program's view, this brings in extra revenue for tax relief and strengthens acceptance among honest taxpayers. The full tax return is to be filed easily online. Seniors are to get a simplified pre-filled return and the option of an official assessment, in which the tax office sets the tax itself. Since tax policy is mostly a federal matter, the CDU wants to exert influence through the Bundesrat.

The CDU wants the tax system to take children into account more, give single parents relief and flatten the progressive tax curve. It keeps Ehegattensplitting (joint taxation of married couples), and the income tax schedule is to be adjusted continuously to price trends.

The CDU wants families to pay less tax. This applies especially to single parents. Middle incomes should also pay less. Taxes should not rise quietly when prices rise. Joint taxation for married couples should stay.

Allowances and child benefit are to be adjusted and the tax relief amount for single parents raised further. The program sees joint taxation of spouses, combined with allowances, as the right system because its options can reflect changed life situations. Allowances and the tax schedule are to follow inflation steadily so that no creeping extra burden arises. The CDU also wants to remove tax incentives that work the wrong way and generally exempt donations in kind from tax, so that food, for example, is donated rather than destroyed.

The CDU rejects a new wealth tax and any tightening of inheritance and gift tax. It argues that collecting such taxes takes a great deal of effort and would drain mid-sized businesses of money they need for investment.

The CDU does not want a tax on wealth. The tax on inheritances and gifts should not get stricter either. The CDU says such taxes take a lot of effort. And businesses need their money to invest.

The program considers taxing assets themselves unsustainable because it would require a lot of staff and expense. On inheritance tax, the CDU wants to make it easier to hand mid-sized businesses over to the next generation. More generally, it advocates relief for mid-sized businesses.

The CDU wants to exempt people in Schleswig-Holstein from the property transfer tax when they buy their first owner-occupied home. The state's tax rate is also to fall to the national average. The platform argues that many families cannot save enough equity.

People buying their first home should pay no property transfer tax. This applies if they live in it themselves. The tax should also go down for everyone else. The CDU mainly wants to help young families.

The exemption is to apply to the first purchase of an owner-occupied home and mainly benefit young families. To pay for it, the CDU wants to use the extra revenue from largely closing the tax loophole for so-called share deals. It also continues to aim for lowering the state's property transfer tax rate to the average level of the German states. The platform sees home ownership as a building block of retirement provision.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for allowances paid for volunteer work to remain tax-free up to €1,000 a month.

Some volunteers get a small payment for their work. The CDU wants no tax on this up to 1,000 euros a month. It wants to push for this at the national level.

The demand is addressed to the federal level because tax law is set there. The cap is to be €1,000 per month. The plan appears in the platform alongside other measures meant to make volunteering more attractive.