Grüne on finance and taxes

The Greens want to expand the maintenance management system for city infrastructure and fund it permanently. It is meant to ensure regular servicing, repair and renewal. The party expects this to keep facilities in good condition and lower costs in the long run.

Roads, bridges and parks need care. Hamburg has a fixed system for this. The Greens want to expand it. There should be enough money for it. That way the city saves costs later.

According to the platform, the system ranges from fixing potholes and keeping bridges safe to maintaining green spaces, parks and playgrounds. The platform also counts water supply and sewage systems as infrastructure that keeps the city running. The Greens point out that they pushed for the system's introduction.

The Greens want to make speculation in land less attractive through tax law. At the federal level, they are pushing for a longer period before rented properties can be sold tax-free, an end to the share-deal loophole and valuations closer to market value for inheritance tax.

Some people buy land only to sell it at a higher price. The Greens want to make this harder with taxes. People who sell a rented property are to pay tax on the profit for longer. Big companies are no longer to avoid the tax on purchases.

The period after which gains from selling rented properties are free of income tax is to rise from 10 to 15 years. Share deals, in which company shares are traded instead of the land itself so that no real estate transfer tax is due, are no longer to be possible. For inheritance and gift tax, real estate is to be valued closer to its actual market value. Grundsteuer C (a tax on undeveloped building land) and Hamburg's new property tax will be evaluated after their introduction, with a view to very high land values and the burden passed on to tenants.

The Greens want the use of the Kultur- und Tourismustaxe (culture and tourism tax) to be evaluated and the parliament to have a say. A larger share of the money should go to new concepts and to resource savings, energy efficiency and accessibility in the sector.

Hotel guests in Hamburg pay a charge called the culture and tourism tax. It brings in 25 million euros a year. The Greens want to check what the money is spent on. The city parliament should help decide. More money should go to new and eco-friendly ideas.

According to the platform, the tax yields 25 million euros a year, almost all of which currently goes to events in tourism, sports and culture. In the future, awarding funds should become more flexible and be based on expected economic, social and ecological effects. A fund is to support hotels, restaurants and water-based tourism such as harbor launch tours in moving to sustainable business practices. Promotion of music tourism beyond the big musicals is also to receive more money from the tax.

The Greens want to keep allowing loans for investments that pay off while limiting interest costs through long-term borrowing. Companies providing essential public services are to stay in public hands, while other city-owned firms without a public purpose are to be sold.

The Greens want to handle the city's money carefully. The city may take loans for investments that pay off. Important companies like the Hochbahn transit company should belong to the city. The party wants to sell other firms without a public purpose.

The city is to take out long-term loans to be independent of short-term swings in financial markets; the Finanz-Service-Agentur (the city's finance service agency) is expected to save interest in the hundreds of millions in the medium term. Accrual-based budgeting (Doppik) is to be linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, a digital budget is to create transparency, and a budget office is to strengthen the state parliament. Measurable goals and indicators for city-owned companies are to be adopted by parliament. A non-public committee is to receive current company figures, following Berlin's model.

The Greens want to change the debt brake at the federal level so that credit-financed investments become possible. They also call for a federal investment fund because Hamburg cannot pay for renewing its infrastructure alone.

The Greens want to change the federal debt brake. The debt brake limits new government debt. The state should be allowed to borrow for investments. The federal government should also create a fund for investments.

In the platform's view, the current debt brake prevents necessary investments and weakens Germany's economic strength. It calls for a debt brake based on accrual accounting logic that permits loans for investments. A federal investment fund is to provide debt-financed public and private money for municipal and federal infrastructure. The platform names sports, university construction, culture and large transport projects as areas of need.

The Greens want to push at the federal level for reinstating the wealth tax and reforming the inheritance tax. Loopholes in inheritance, property and real estate transfer taxes are to be closed and the tax offices strengthened.

The Greens want a tax on large fortunes again. The tax on inheritances should also change. Big corporations should no longer get advantages when buying land. People buying their first own home should pay less tax. The tax offices should become stronger.

According to the platform, the wealth tax should comply with the constitution, raise substantial revenue, spare mid-sized businesses and involve little bureaucracy. It says the inheritance tax currently favors the very rich and heirs to companies while burdening people who pass on their retirement savings. Advantages for large corporations in the real estate transfer tax are to end; the revenue is to fund an allowance for buying a first owner-occupied home. Working conditions, lateral entry and promotion prospects in the tax offices are to be improved further so that everyone pays their taxes.