Freie Wähler on finance and taxes

The Free Voters want €2,000 of monthly income to be tax-free. Pensions are no longer to be taxed at all, and company pensions are not to be burdened twice. The platform argues that the state profits from inflation while workers and retirees lose purchasing power.

The Free Voters want lower taxes on income. €2,000 a month should be tax-free. There should be no more tax on pensions. The party says: prices are rising and people have less money.

Monthly income up to €2,000 is to be exempt from tax. The tax on pensions is to be dropped, as is any double taxation of company pensions. The party cites higher prices as the reason; in its view the state benefits from them while wage earners and retirees lose purchasing power. In the same context the platform describes cash as an expression of freedom.

The Free Voters want to preserve cash and reject any caps on cash payments. The platform argues that cash means freedom and that restrictions do not fit a liberal society.

The Free Voters want to keep cash. They do not want a limit on cash payments. The party says that cash means freedom.

The platform rejects both abolishing cash and limiting its use. It frames the issue under the heading that monetary policy must preserve freedom. In the same context, the Free Voters want to keep savings banks and cooperative banks and protect their special role in EU law.

The Free Voters want Bavaria's state budget to stay balanced without new borrowing and want existing debt reduced. At the same time, a large share of the budget is to go to investment.

Bavaria should not spend more money than it takes in. The Free Voters want to pay back old debt. The state should still invest a lot of money.

The platform lists a balanced budget, consistent debt reduction and a high investment rate as goals. Financial relations between the federal government and the states should rely more on incentives so that success is rewarded. For very costly large projects, the party calls for strict cost planning and cost control. All decision-makers are also to be held responsible for careful use of tax money.

The Free Voters want to lower taxes on work: €2,000 of monthly income would be tax-free, and bracket creep and the solidarity surcharge would be eliminated. The platform cites inflation and higher living costs as the reason.

The Free Voters want lower taxes on work. People should pay no income tax on up to €2,000 a month. The solidarity surcharge should end completely. The party says that life has become more expensive.

The party wants to push nationwide for much higher income tax allowances. Bracket creep, meaning a higher tax burden caused only by inflation-related raises, is to be abolished, as is the solidarity surcharge. Pensions would no longer be taxed and company pensions would not be burdened twice. Joint taxation of spouses would be replaced by a family-based splitting model, and tax class 5 would be dropped. Low earners would pay lower social contributions, and owner-occupied homes would become depreciable for tax purposes.

The Free Voters call for abolishing the tax on inheritances and gifts and want to prevent a return of the wealth tax. In addition, Bavaria should not introduce Grundsteuer C.

The Free Voters want to end the tax on inheritances. Gifts should not be taxed either. A tax on wealth should not come back.

The platform counts abolishing the inheritance tax among the key levers of fair tax policy. It links the demand to the goal of rewarding companies that think across generations. The party rejects Grundsteuer C for Bavaria, an optional higher property tax on undeveloped building land. It also wants to prevent the wealth tax from being reintroduced.

The Free Voters want to lower the tax burden on companies from about 30 to 25 percent. In the platform's view, that rate would be internationally competitive.

Companies should pay less tax. Today the rate is about 30 percent. The Free Voters want 25 percent. This should help German companies compete with firms abroad.

The platform names competitive business taxation as one of three key levers of tax policy. In addition, small and mid-sized companies are to get tax relief. These firms would also receive tax incentives for research and development.

The Free Voters want to make the reduced 7 percent VAT rate permanent for food and drinks in restaurants and extend it to staple foods. Energy and hairdressing services would also be taxed at a lower rate.

VAT in restaurants should stay at 7 percent for good. This should cover food and drinks. Staple foods, electricity, gas and haircuts should also be taxed less.

The 7 percent rate would apply permanently to both food and beverages in restaurants. For staple foods it would apply generally, not only to fruit and vegetables. On energy, the platform calls for lower VAT on electricity as well as gas. Hairdressing services would also be taxed at 7 percent. The tourism chapter repeats the demand and ties it to the goal of stopping the decline of rural inns.