Grüne on finance and taxes

The Greens want to channel part of the reserves for civil servant pensions into sustainable projects within the state. This would make it easier for municipalities to invest in heating networks, which the platform says also benefits local businesses and trades.

The state saves money for the pensions of civil servants. The Greens want to invest part of it within the state. The money should go into sustainable projects. One example is heating networks in towns and cities.

Parts of the pension reserves or of the Versorgungsfonds (state pension fund) would be used. As an example, the party cites a simpler way for municipalities to finance the expansion of heating networks. The state is also to live up to its role as a shareholder of the utility EnBW; its participation in a capital increase of more than three billion euros is cited as the basis for expanding wind, solar, grids and storage.

The Greens want to secure the finances of cities and towns for the long term, in the short run through a larger municipal share of value-added tax revenue. Under the connexity principle, whoever assigns tasks to municipalities should also provide the money.

Many cities and towns have too little money. The Greens want to give them more money from sales tax. Whoever gives towns new tasks should also pay for them. This applies to the state, the federal government and the EU.

In the medium term, shared tax revenues are to be redistributed among the federal government, the states and municipalities. Existing mandatory tasks are to be fully funded permanently; the list of tasks will be reviewed together with the municipalities. Financial relations between the state and municipalities are to be simplified and the municipal fiscal equalization system modernized. Investment support is to be guided by sustainability, and cooperation between municipalities will be promoted.

The Greens want to attract private money for public infrastructure and climate protection and expand the state's green bonds. In the platform's view, the energy transition and modernization can only be financed with public and private funds together.

Climate protection and new networks cost a lot of money. The Greens also want to use money from private investors for this. The state issues green bonds for this purpose. There should be more of them.

The state's development banks and public banks are to make infrastructure financing and climate neutrality priorities. At the federal and EU level, the party wants to push for fewer regulatory hurdles, for example through adjusted capital requirements for lenders, insurers and pension funds for sustainable projects. The green bonds are meant to channel money into climate-friendly infrastructure, building renovation, mobility and renewable energy. For the state's financial investments, climate protection, social criteria and human rights count alongside return and safety.

The Greens want to pass two thirds of the more than 13 billion euros that Baden-Württemberg receives from the federal special fund on to municipalities. The rest is to go as state investment into university hospitals, universities and transport infrastructure.

Baden-Württemberg gets more than 13 billion euros from the federal government. The Greens want to give two thirds to cities and towns. This should improve schools, daycare, roads and buses. The rest goes to hospitals and universities.

The platform points to another 550 million euros that the state has pledged to municipalities for 2025 and 2026. By 2030 the state will also cover 600 million euros of operating costs for all-day care at elementary schools. The party says it wants to use the funds for investment and not for election giveaways, which it accuses the federal government of.

The Greens say they are open to reforming the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) at the state level too, but consider a limit on the debt ratio right in principle. At the same time, they want to review existing spending and target funding more precisely.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The Greens want to be able to change this rule in the state. But there should still be a limit on debt. The state should spend money in a more targeted way and save in some places.

According to the platform, sound finances and investment should not be opposites. Instead of broadly scattered subsidies, the party relies on impact and precision; funds are to be disbursed quickly. Procedures are to be simplified through minimum thresholds and flat-rate funding mechanisms. As a possible saving, the platform names more open-source software in the state administration, because license and operating costs fall.

The Greens want to prosecute tax fraud, money laundering and organized financial crime more vigorously and expand the tax administration's staff and digital tools for that purpose. They justify this with fairness toward everyone who pays taxes honestly.

Some people and companies cheat on taxes. The Greens want to go after this more strongly. Tax offices should get more staff and better technology. People who pay taxes honestly should not be worse off.

New IT procedures, AI-supported analysis and links with security agencies are meant to make fraud visible faster. Complex cases such as cum-cum and cum-ex deals are to be prosecuted more efficiently and thoroughly. The financial crime task force with specialists from police, the judiciary and the tax administration will be strengthened further. Recruiting new staff for the tax administration remains a priority; according to the platform, each tax investigator brings in an average of one million euros.

The Greens want to push at the federal level to close inheritance tax exemptions they regard as unfair. They argue that unequally distributed wealth stands in the way of equal opportunity.

Wealth is unevenly shared in Germany. The Greens think this is unfair. The tax on inheritances has exceptions for very large fortunes. The Greens want to end these exceptions at the federal level.

As examples, the platform names the Verschonungsbedarfsprüfung, a needs test through which very large business assets can be spared from the tax. Another is the tax exemption when more than 300 apartments are inherited. The party also counts share deals, in which company shares rather than real estate are transferred, among the loopholes.

The Greens want to lower the Grunderwerbsteuer (property transfer tax) for people buying a home for the first time to live in themselves. This requires the federal government to allow it by law. The relief is to be designed in a socially fair way.

People who buy a house pay a tax. It is called property transfer tax. The Greens want to lower it for a first purchase. This applies to people who live there themselves. First the federal government must allow it.

The party wants to ease the path to home ownership because, in its view, owning a home stands for security and independence. Those who have so far found buying too expensive are meant to benefit most. The cut is to come as soon as a federal law gives the states this option.