SPD on finance and taxes

The SPD wants to provide an additional one billion euros from the state budget for climate action over the next three years. The money would come through the exception rules of the Schuldenbremse (debt brake), and a state investment plan would spell out all needed investments.

The SPD wants to spend one billion euros more on climate action. The money would be spent over three years. The party wants to use exceptions to the debt brake. The debt brake is a rule that limits new government debt.

The funding would follow the same procedure used for the costs of the coronavirus crisis and for HSH Nordbank. The platform names several preconditions: new investment companies, updated procedural rules for the debt brake, and municipal investment based on double-entry accounting. The climate plan and the biodiversity strategy would get an investment plan that lists the full need. The state, municipalities and companies should be able to draw down all available federal and EU funds. Together with the federal government, the SPD wants to close profitability gaps for investments.

The SPD commits to the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) and to balanced budgets. At the same time, it says the rule must not prevent the economic and social transformation it considers necessary.

The SPD wants to keep the debt brake. That is a rule that limits new debt. But the SPD says saving alone is not enough. The state must also invest in the future.

The platform describes the debt brake as a tool to protect future generations, not an end in itself. In the SPD's view, forgoing the coming transformation would be short-sighted. Under the heading of tax fairness, tax offices are to get modern equipment and enough staff, because digitalization is said to make their work harder. The state's financial investments are to follow the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The SPD wants property owners to no longer pay charges for road improvements. Municipalities would be compensated through the municipal fiscal equalization system, and financially weak ones would get additional help with legacy debt.

Today, residents often pay when their street is rebuilt. The SPD wants to end these charges. The towns get money from the state instead. Poor towns should also get help with old debts.

As compensation, the municipal fiscal equalization system is to be relieved by the average revenue from these charges in 2016 through 2018, minus state funds already paid. At the federal level, the SPD wants to push for a fund for legacy municipal debt. Consolidation aid for financially weak municipalities is to continue beyond 2024. In addition, municipal public order services are to be strengthened and local safety partnerships with police, associations and initiatives built up.

The SPD wants to invest more in education and is willing to take on debt to do so. It argues that the long-term costs of not investing would be higher.

The SPD wants to spend more money on education. The state may borrow money for this. The SPD says: otherwise it will cost even more later.

The platform states that Schleswig-Holstein ranks at the bottom nationally in education spending, alongside North Rhine-Westphalia. It also says the state performs poorly in comparative studies. The SPD sees a link between the two and wants to break it. It considers new debt for education justifiable because, in its view, missing investment would cost more later.

The SPD considers a lower Grunderwerbsteuer (property transfer tax) sensible for families with children when they buy property for the first time. The state is to use its powers in tax law to lower the costs of social housing construction and home ownership.

People who buy a house pay a tax. It is called the property transfer tax. The SPD wants to lower this tax for families with children. This applies when they buy their first house or apartment.

The relief is meant for specific target groups and is limited to the first property purchase. The platform links it to the goal that people with ordinary incomes can afford to own a home. Social housing construction is also to become cheaper through the state's tax law.