What do the parties in North Rhine-Westphalia say on finance and taxes?

The AfD opposes levying the wealth tax again. It sees it as double taxation that hits small and mid-sized firms and family businesses especially hard while raising little revenue.

The AfD does not want a wealth tax. That is a tax on what people own. The AfD says this money was already taxed once. The tax hurts family businesses most of all.

The AfD wants to abolish the Grundsteuer (property tax) entirely because collecting it is complicated and costly. In return, municipalities would be allowed to levy their own surcharge on income tax.

The AfD wants to end the property tax. That is a tax on land and buildings. Towns should get a share of income tax instead. Renters should usually pay less as a result.

The AfD wants to scrap the charges that residents in North Rhine-Westphalia pay toward road upgrades. It argues that these charges hit households unexpectedly and often exceed what they can afford.

Today, residents help pay when their street is rebuilt. The AfD wants to end these charges. It says the bills come suddenly. Many households cannot afford them.

The AfD wants to preserve cash and rejects any upper limit on cash payments. It sees cash as protection against negative interest rates, against disclosure of people's transactions, and against technical failures.

The AfD wants cash to stay. It also wants no limit on paying with cash. It says cash protects people's freedom. You can always pay with cash, even without technology.

The AfD wants to use the Bundesrat to permanently lower VAT to 16 percent and the reduced rate to 5 percent. It also wants to eliminate small, low-yield taxes as far as possible in order to simplify the tax system.

The AfD wants to lower the sales tax called VAT. It should drop from 19 to 16 percent. The lower rate should drop from 7 to 5 percent. Small taxes that bring in little money should go.

The AfD wants the state-owned NRW.Bank to do only business that directly benefits the state and its residents. It also wants Sparkassen (public savings banks) to remain available across the state for payment services despite mergers.

NRW.Bank belongs to the state. The AfD wants the bank to do business only for NRW. Foreign business with no link to NRW should stop. Savings banks should stay available everywhere in the state.

The AfD wants to add the debt brake from Germany's Basic Law to the constitution of North Rhine-Westphalia. Debt taken on during the COVID crisis would be fully repaid within 25 years.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The AfD wants to write it into the NRW constitution. The state should pay off its COVID debt within 25 years.

The AfD wants the state to give cities and towns enough money for their mandatory tasks and also for voluntary services. In its view, municipalities in NRW are chronically underfunded and have almost no room to act.

Cities and towns need money for their tasks. The AfD says they get too little. The state should give them enough. The money should also cover voluntary services.

The AfD wants to create a separate criminal offense for wasting taxpayers' money. It considers this as serious as tax evasion.

The AfD wants to punish the waste of tax money. There should be a separate rule for this in criminal law. The AfD says waste is as bad as not paying taxes.

The CDU commits to the debt brake and to a budget without new borrowing. After the crisis, the state is to return to normal budget policy and reduce its COVID-related debt. The party justifies this with responsibility toward future generations.

The CDU does not want to take on new debt. It sticks to the debt brake. That is a rule that tightly limits new debt. In good times, the CDU wants to set money aside. It wants to pay back the debt from the COVID period.

The CDU wants to free clubs and volunteers from administrative burdens and improve their tax treatment. Reporting duties are to be cut to what is necessary. Plans include tax-deductible membership fees, a higher tax-free allowance for instructors and a higher sales tax threshold.

Clubs have a lot of paperwork. The CDU wants to make this easier. Forms should be easy for everyone to understand. Clubs and volunteers should pay less tax. For example, people should be able to deduct membership fees from their taxes.

The CDU wants to help reduce the short-term cash loans weighing on municipalities and says this requires a nationwide debt relief plan. It also wants to take stock of state compensation payments to municipalities and further develop municipal financing and the local business tax.

Many towns and cities have high debts. The CDU wants to help lower these debts. It wants a plan for all of Germany. The rules for local money should also change.

The CDU wants to abolish the obligation for municipalities to levy road improvement charges. This is to be done in a way that does not trigger compensation claims by municipalities against the state.

When a street is renewed, nearby owners often have to pay part of it. Towns must ask for this money today. The CDU wants to end this duty.

The CDU wants to set up a statewide building program for municipal facilities through NRW.BANK, the state's development bank. At the same time, many separate funding programs are to be bundled so that municipalities can build and renovate according to actual need.

Many town buildings are old. The CDU wants a building program for schools, town halls, fire stations and sports sites. The money should come through the state's bank. Many small funding programs should become a few.

The FDP rejects any loosening of the debt brake and wants to repay the state's COVID debt faster than legally required. It cites fairness between generations and readiness for future crises.

The state took on a lot of debt during COVID. The FDP wants to pay this debt back quickly. The debt brake should stay strict. The debt brake is a rule against new debt. Young people should not carry the burden for long.

The FDP rejects tax increases because, in its view, they endanger the economic recovery. Subsidies are to expire automatically, and the state budget and all funding programs are to be reviewed critically.

The FDP does not want higher taxes. It says higher taxes hurt the economy. State aid for companies should end after a fixed time. The state should check all spending closely.

The FDP wants to review all state-owned enterprises and holdings and sell whatever is not of overriding public importance. This includes the stakes in the Düsseldorf and Cologne trade fair companies; more privatization is also planned at the state's building and real estate agency.

The state owns shares in companies. The FDP wants to check all of these shares. Anything that is not very important for the public should be sold. This includes the shares in the trade fairs in Düsseldorf and Cologne.

The FDP wants North Rhine-Westphalia to adopt its own property tax model based on land and building area plus location factors. It rejects the federal model, which in its view creates heavy bureaucracy and leads to automatic tax increases as property values rise.

The FDP wants a separate property tax for North Rhine-Westphalia. The tax should mostly depend on the size of the land and building. The value of the property should matter very little. This way the tax should not keep rising on its own.

Municipalities should decide for themselves whether to charge a special rate on plots that are ready for building but left undeveloped. The FDP attaches the condition that the extra revenue be used entirely to lower the regular property tax (Grundsteuer B).

Some plots of land may be built on but stay empty. Towns can charge a higher tax for them. The FDP wants to let towns decide this. In return, towns must lower the normal property tax.

The FDP wants to continue the fight against tax evasion and allow the seizure of assets whose origin clearly cannot be explained. It also wants to work for a fair distribution of the tax burden between small businesses and multinational corporations.

The FDP wants to keep fighting tax fraud. The state should be able to take away wealth if nobody can explain where it came from. Big corporations should not dodge taxes. Small firms should not carry more of the load than big ones.

The FDP wants to raise the municipalities' share of state revenue from 23 to 25 percent over the longer term. More of the money is to flow as lump sums, while the state's many grant programs are reviewed.

Cities and towns should get more money from the state. Their share should rise from 23 to 25 percent. They should decide for themselves how to use it. The FDP wants to review the state's grant programs.

The FDP wants to abolish the Gewerbesteuer (local trade tax) in the long run and give municipalities a larger share of value-added tax instead. Municipalities are to be allowed to set their own rates on further taxes and, in return, be bound by a debt brake.

The FDP wants to end the local trade tax in the long run. That is a tax companies pay to their city. Cities should get more of the sales tax instead. They should also set their own rates on other taxes. In return, they should take on less new debt.

The FDP wants to support over-indebted municipalities with credit assistance based on the principle of helping them help themselves. Each municipality is to remain liable for its own debt; the party rejects pooling the debts.

Some cities have very high debts. The FDP wants to help them manage these debts. But each city should stay responsible for its own debt. Others should not take over the debt. A supervisor should warn early about new debt.

The FDP wants to completely abolish the road improvement charges that have already been halved. This is meant to free property owners and buyers from a cost risk and reduce red tape; municipal fees are also to become easier to compare.

Homeowners often have to pay when their street is renewed. The FDP wants to end these charges completely. This should relieve owners and buyers of homes. City fees should also be easier to compare.

The Greens want all of the state's fiscal decisions to be measured against the 1.5-degree target and their social consequences. A climate check for state spending would be introduced, and the state's investments would remain geared to sustainability.

The state spends a lot of money. The Greens want to check every expense: Is it good for the climate? They call this a climate check. The state's invested money should not harm the climate either.

The Greens want a "green pact for the future" to invest considerably more in public infrastructure. To pay for it, they would use the leeway in the debt brake and create financing channels outside the state budget.

Schools, roads, and networks need a lot of money. The Greens want to invest more in them. The debt brake limits new debt. The Greens want to use the exceptions it allows. They also want new sources of money outside the budget.

The Greens want to create a legacy debt fund that helps cities and towns pay down their debts. This is meant to let municipalities invest on their own again in education, childcare, transportation, and infrastructure.

Many cities and towns have large debts. The Greens want to help them with a fund. A fund is a pot of money for a set purpose. Then towns can spend money on their own again. For example, on schools and bike paths.

The Greens want to stop municipalities from luring businesses away from each other with low local business tax rates. Instead, cities and towns should cooperate and be able to collect the Gewerbesteuer (local business tax) jointly. Municipal funding programs are also to be simplified.

Some cities cut taxes to attract companies. The Greens want to make this unattractive. Cities should work together instead. Applying for state funding should also get easier for cities.

The Greens want to step up the fight against tax evasion and tax fraud. The tax administration and tax investigation units are to get more staff and better digital technology. The platform justifies this with money it says is missing for schools and investment.

Some people and companies do not pay their taxes. The Greens want to pursue this more strongly. Tax offices should get more staff and better technology. The money should then go to schools.

The SPD wants to scrap the road improvement charges that property owners along a street pay under the municipal charges act. Municipalities would be compensated for the lost revenue. The program calls the charges unfair and bureaucratic and points to the burden on young families and retirees.

When a street is rebuilt, residents often have to pay a lot of money. The SPD wants to end these charges. Cities and towns would get the missing money from the state. The SPD says the charges hit young families and retirees hardest.

The SPD wants to fully replace municipalities' pandemic-related losses in local business tax for 2021 and 2022. The money would not have to be repaid, so that no new legacy debt builds up.

Because of COVID, towns and cities took in less tax. The SPD wants to replace this loss in full for 2021 and 2022. Municipalities do not have to pay the money back. This way they should not need new debt.

The SPD wants to work out a solution for municipalities' legacy debt together with the federal government. If that fails, the state would act alone. Municipalities would also get money to invest in future-oriented projects.

Many cities in NRW have old debts. The SPD wants to solve this together with the federal government. If that does not work, the state should do it alone. Cities should again have money for new projects.

The SPD wants to give municipalities a permanently larger share of state tax revenue by raising the Verbundsatz (revenue-sharing rate) to 24 and later 25 percent. Grant programs would be simplified, and the state would pay for tasks it hands to municipalities.

Towns and cities should get more money from the state for good. For this, the Verbundsatz goes up. That is the share of state taxes that municipalities receive. It should first rise to 24 percent, later to 25. Grant programs should become simpler.

The SPD wants to launch a state investment program to reduce the investment backlog in North Rhine-Westphalia. The money is to go mainly to schools, climate action, health care, housing and digitalization. The platform rejects budget consolidation at any cost.

NRW lacks a lot of money for schools, roads and other important things. So the SPD wants to start a big investment program. The money should go to schools, climate protection, health, housing and digital services. The SPD does not want to cut too much in the crisis.

The SPD wants to use money from the state's COVID rescue fund for a program to restart the economy and social life after the pandemic. It wants to examine whether the rescue fund can be used beyond 2022. At the same time, it plans a schedule for repaying the state's COVID debt.

The COVID crisis caused many problems. The state has a special pot of money for this, the rescue fund. The SPD wants to use it to pay for a restart program. It may want to use the fund after 2022 too. It also wants a plan for paying back the debt.

The SPD wants to tackle tax evasion, tax avoidance and tax fraud through legislation and more staff, including more tax auditors. Oversight against money laundering is also to get considerably more staff and funding. It wants to consider creating a dedicated state agency against money laundering.

Some people and companies do not pay their taxes properly. The SPD wants to fight this harder. It wants to hire more tax auditors. It also wants to do more against money laundering. Money laundering means hiding that money comes from crime.

The SPD demands that the federal government reimburse states and municipalities for revenue losses caused by federal tax decisions. Temporary federal aid, for example for integration and education, should become permanent. According to the platform, the aim is a public sector that is able to act.

Sometimes the federal government makes rules that leave the state with less tax money. The SPD wants the federal government to replace that money. The federal government also gives money for schools and integration, but only for a limited time. The SPD wants this money to be paid permanently.