Grüne on finance and taxes

The Greens want Lower Saxony to push at the federal level for a wealth tax and a reform of the inheritance tax. According to the program, people with very high incomes should contribute more to funding public tasks.

The Greens want a tax on large fortunes. Germany had this tax in the past. Lower Saxony should push for it in the Bundesrat. The tax on inheritances should also change. People who earn a great deal should pay more.

The program names what the party considers a fair tax policy as its goal. Top earners are to bear an appropriate share of the costs of public services. The inheritance tax is to be reformed because, in the Greens' view, it has too many loopholes. Through the Bundesrat (the chamber of the states), the state is to work toward bringing back the wealth tax.

The Greens want to change the debt brake in the federal constitution and the state constitution so that more investment in climate protection and public services becomes possible. They consider a debt rule right in principle but regard the past focus on a balanced budget as a failure.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The Greens want to change this rule. The state should be able to spend more on climate protection. There should also be more money for schools and housing. The Greens will also look at emergency loans because of the climate crisis.

In the program's view, today's debt brake blocks investment in the future and lets infrastructure decay. The Greens want to push for reform in the Bundesrat while keeping the overall economic situation in mind. At the state level, the first step is to make the component that adjusts for the economic cycle more flexible. For emergencies such as the war against Ukraine and its follow-on costs for municipalities, the rule is to become more practical. The party will examine whether the climate crisis counts as an extraordinary emergency; if that holds up legally, the Greens support emergency loans for climate protection.

The Greens want to create a Niedersachsenfonds (Lower Saxony fund) that is to grow to ten billion euros with money from the capital market. It is to finance investment in climate-neutral public buildings, supply infrastructure and public services.

The Greens want a new fund for Lower Saxony. A fund is a large pot of money. The state puts in one billion euros. Borrowed money is added until it reaches ten billion euros. The money should make buildings climate-friendly.

The Greens developed the concept together with the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB). The fund is to receive one billion euros in base capital and grow to ten billion euros through the capital market. According to the program, it is compatible with the debt brake in the state constitution. Together with state-owned companies, it is to convert state and municipal buildings to climate neutrality, build climate-neutral supply infrastructure and strengthen social services. The party ranks a "green zero," meaning the avoidance of ecological damage, above a balanced budget.

The Greens want to introduce a state asset statement that shows the state's assets and its hidden obligations. Citizens should be able to see how finances, assets and future burdens develop.

The Greens want a new set of accounts for the state. It shows what the state owns. It also shows hidden debts. These include future pensions for civil servants. Then everyone can see how the money stands.

According to the program, the state budget so far shows neither assets nor implicit debt, which includes pension promises to civil servants. Both are to be recorded under commercial accounting rules in the future. It should also become visible how skipped investment burdens later generations. Buildings, roads, bridges and the state forest are to be maintained. Preserving assets is to rank equally with the debt brake.

The Greens want to check every budget item in advance for whether it fits the 1.5-degree target and to commit the state's financial investments to climate neutrality by law. In addition, gender budgeting is to shape the budget so that it advances equality between the sexes.

The Greens want to check the state budget for climate protection. The budget is the plan for income and spending. The state should stop investing money in oil, gas and coal companies. The money should benefit all genders equally. The state should also issue green bonds.

The review is to cover subsidies, funding programs and financial aid in particular. The state's investment strategy is to follow climate neutrality and the UN Sustainable Development Goals; investments in fossil energy companies are to end. Following the example of Baden-Württemberg, a Green Bond Niedersachsen is to finance ecological state projects. The party wants to use the state's stakes in Volkswagen and Salzgitter to advance the ecological transformation of these companies. A strategic budgeting approach based on the UN goals is to be introduced, which also includes gender budgeting.

The Greens want to strengthen the tax administration with more staff and better technology and set up an anonymous online portal for reporting tax offenses. At the federal level, share deals used to get around the real estate transfer tax are to be stopped.

The Greens want to act more firmly against tax fraud. Tax offices should get more staff and better technology. There should be a website for tips. People can report violations there without giving their name. Companies should no longer use tax tricks when buying buildings.

The tax administration is to get 200 additional training places permanently, better technology and the option of mobile work everywhere. Positions in tax investigation and company audits are to rise step by step. The reporting portal follows the model of Baden-Württemberg. On share deals, the party backs proportional taxation of real estate holdings when companies are sold; for farmland, such deals are to require approval from the agricultural authorities. When grants are awarded, a company's past use of tax avoidance schemes is to be an important factor.

The Greens want to allow public-private partnerships (PPPs) only if they are reliably cheaper for taxpayers in the long run or bring added value. In transportation they are to be ruled out by law, and all PPP contracts are to be published.

Sometimes the state builds things together with private companies. This is called a public-private partnership, or PPP. The Greens want to allow this only rarely. For roads and transportation it should be banned. All PPP contracts should be public.

In the program's view, badly designed PPPs were profitable for the private companies and expensive for the public. The party cites the failure of the federal car toll as the reason for the ban in transportation. Construction projects and large public purchases are to be monitored more closely. Careful use of tax money and cutting unnecessary spending are to come before new loans and higher revenue.

The Greens want to make the state bank Nord/LB less risky and turn it into a bank that mainly finances the energy transition and the transformation of the economy. Risky legacy holdings are to be wound down completely.

Nord/LB is a bank that mostly belongs to the state. The bank had big losses. The Greens want it to take fewer risks. It should mainly finance projects for climate and energy.

The program points out that the owners had to inject 3.6 billion euros in 2019 after losses. The wind-down of the guarantee portfolio at risk of default is to be completed. The party will examine whether a reorganization of public-sector banks would make risk reduction and the new direction easier. With counties and independent cities in the Braunschweig area, it wants an open-ended discussion on whether the Braunschweigische Landessparkasse can be separated from the bank. The bank is also to develop clear criteria for investments and loans in line with the Paris climate agreement.

The Greens want savings banks and public companies to disclose what their executive boards and supervisory bodies are paid, because they work with public money. The savings bank law is to define the public-interest mission more precisely and tie it to climate goals.

Savings banks and state-owned companies work with public money. The Greens want more openness there. Everyone should be able to see what the bosses earn. Savings banks should also pay more attention to climate protection.

The state and municipalities, as owners, are to be required to press for open pay figures in the governing bodies. According to the program, such a duty could be written into the savings bank law or the municipal constitution law. The public-interest mission in the state savings bank law is to follow the federal government's climate targets, the Paris agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This includes clear criteria for investments and lending that ensure money is used in an ecologically and socially responsible way.

The Greens want the state to give municipalities more money through the fiscal equalization system and to change how it is distributed. According to the platform, Lower Saxony is below the national average here, and structurally weak municipalities are at a disadvantage.

Cities and towns get money from the state. The Greens want them to get more. The way the money is shared should also change. Poor towns should do better than today.

A parliamentary study commission is to examine the distribution formulas and check whether the state actually pays for the tasks it hands to municipalities (the Konnexitätsprinzip). Social spending and lower tax revenue should carry more weight. The Greens will look into a special formula for municipalities with high climate protection costs. Heavily indebted municipalities should keep receiving state debt relief programs, and at the federal level the party backs relief for short-term cash loans. Paying out grants to municipalities should also become simpler.