What do the parties in Saxony say on finance and taxes?

The AfD wants to permanently secure the unrestricted use of cash and write it into the Grundgesetz (Germany's constitution). It rejects a digital euro issued by the ECB. It justifies this as protection against surveillance and expropriation.

The AfD wants to keep cash. The right to use cash should be in the constitution. The AfD is against a digital euro. It says: Without cash, the state can watch every payment.

The AfD wants tax relief for citizens and businesses. Among other things, it calls for ending the solidarity surcharge, offsetting bracket creep, lowering energy and corporate taxes, and scrapping the CO2 levy and emissions trading. The beer tax on German beers would also be dropped.

The AfD wants lower taxes. The solidarity surcharge should end. There should be no more charge on CO2. Taxes on electricity and energy should go down. Companies should pay less tax. The tax on German beer should also end.

The AfD wants to avoid new debt and focus the budget on core tasks. Staff in government agencies would be reduced, except in the police and schools. The party wants to save mainly on asylum and immigration, on funding for associations and NGOs, and on climate subsidies.

The AfD does not want new debt. The state should spend less money. Government offices should have fewer jobs. This does not apply to police and schools. The AfD wants to save on asylum, on associations and on climate.

The AfD wants to give states and municipalities more money and improve the position of rural communities when state funds are distributed. Fiscal equalization should also take a municipality's land area into account. Municipalities should gain enough leeway that the Grundsteuer (property tax) can be dropped.

The AfD wants to give towns more money. Rural towns above all should get more. Big cities should be favored less. The property tax should later end completely. That is a tax on land and houses.

The AfD wants to push at the federal level for an end to the Grunderwerbsteuer (real estate transfer tax) on owner-occupied housing. For a first owner-occupied property, the tax would be capped at 1 percent. Road construction charges are to be dropped throughout Saxony.

People who buy a house pay a tax. The AfD wants to end this tax when people live in the house themselves. For a first home it should be only 1 percent. Charges for road building should also end in Saxony.

The AfD wants to uncover and punish the waste of tax money more consistently. The Saxon Court of Audit would be allowed to impose sanctions. Decision-makers are to be personally liable.

The AfD wants this: People who waste tax money should be punished. The Court of Audit checks how Saxony spends its money. In the future it should be able to impose penalties itself. Those responsible should also pay with their own money.

The BSW wants to reorder the financial relationship between the state and its municipalities. Cities, towns and counties are to be funded adequately and according to need and decide on their own spending. The effort involved in grant funding is to be reduced.

Towns and cities in Saxony should get enough money. The money should match what they need. They should decide for themselves how to spend it. Today they often have to apply for grants with a lot of paperwork. The BSW wants to make that simpler.

The BSW wants to change Saxony's Finanzausgleichsgesetz (fiscal equalization act) so that every municipality can draw up a balanced budget. A fund should help municipalities buy back public service facilities they sold.

Many towns in Saxony do not have enough money. The BSW wants to change the law that shares out the money. Towns should get enough for their tasks. A fund should help them buy back sold hospitals or housing. The new property tax should not cost citizens more.

The BSW wants to change the debt brake in Saxony's constitution so that borrowing for public investment is possible again. The pandemic-era loans should be repaid over a much longer period than eight years.

The debt brake bans almost all new debt for Saxony. The BSW wants to change that. The state should be allowed to borrow for investments. Saxony should pay back its Covid loans more slowly. There should be no new budget cuts.

The BSW wants Saxony to launch a Bundesrat initiative for a wealth tax on very large fortunes. The revenue would go to the states and, according to the program, could be spent on education, hospitals and school buildings.

The BSW wants a tax on very large fortunes again. Multimillionaires and billionaires should pay it. Saxony should propose this in the Bundesrat. The money goes to the states. They can use it for schools and hospitals.

The BSW wants to push at the federal level to abolish Grundsteuer A, the property tax on agricultural and forestry land. It rejects additional burdens on farmers such as the cuts to farm diesel relief.

Farmers pay a tax on their land. It is called Grundsteuer A. The BSW wants to end this tax. Farmers should also keep getting cheaper diesel.

The CDU wants to keep Saxony's ban on new state borrowing and the Generationenfonds (generations fund). It argues that today's budget decisions must not burden future generations.

The CDU wants no new debt for Saxony. The state should only spend money it has already taken in. The generations fund should stay too. This is a savings pot of the state for later costs. The CDU says this protects younger people.

The CDU wants to concentrate state funds on the core tasks of government and to review and, where possible, cut existing tasks, spending and standards. In the platform's view, public budgets have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.

The CDU wants the state to spend its money on the most important tasks. These include security, education, administration and money for towns. It wants to check other spending and cut it. The state should also be careful about hiring new staff.

The CDU wants to raise the Pendlerpauschale (commuter tax allowance) from 30 to 38 cents starting with the first kilometer. Commuters could then deduct more travel costs from their taxes.

Many people travel far to work. There is a commuter allowance for that. It lowers the taxes they pay. The CDU wants to raise it from 30 to 38 cents per kilometer.

The CDU wants the federal and state governments to hand new tasks to municipalities only together with the money needed. A matching compensation rule for extra burdens is to be written into the Basic Law (Germany's constitution). The party keeps the municipal fiscal equalization system and wants grants to be awarded more freely and as lump sums.

Towns often get new tasks from the federal government. The CDU says: whoever orders a task should pay for it. This rule should go into the constitution. Towns should be freer in how they spend grant money. Applying for grants should get simpler.

The Free Voters demand that the federal and state governments cover the cost of tasks they assign to municipalities. The platform criticizes that municipalities keep receiving more duties without financial compensation.

The federal and state governments often give towns new tasks. The Free Voters want this: whoever hands over a task also pays for it. This is called the connexity principle. Towns should not be left with the costs.

The Free Voters want to reduce the number of funding programs and fundamentally reorganize Saxony's funding policy. The platform speaks of an uncontrolled sprawl of subsidies and calls for clear responsibilities, simple applications and transparent conditions.

Saxony has a great many funding programs. The Free Voters want fewer of them. Applications should become easier. Everyone should understand what the money is for. The money saved should go to the towns.

The Free Voters want municipalities and counties to keep a much larger share of Saxony's taxes and revenue. To that end, the fiscal equalization law is to be rewritten, because the platform sees municipalities as systematically underfunded for years.

The Free Voters say towns in Saxony have too little money. They should keep a bigger share of the taxes. A law is to be rewritten for this. Towns should decide about their own money.

The Free Voters commit to the debt brake and to careful use of taxpayer money. Fiscal policy in Saxony is to become more sustainable at every level.

The Free Voters want to be careful with tax money. The state should keep the debt brake. That is a rule: the state may take on only a little new debt.

The Free Voters want to strengthen the tax administration. This is meant to let the state act more firmly against people and companies that do not pay their taxes properly.

Some people do not pay their taxes correctly. The Free Voters want to strengthen the tax offices. The offices should be better able to pursue such cases.

The Greens want a more sustainable, fairer and more transparent state budget. Where the state itself is in control, it should reach climate targets earlier than the law requires. The state's assets and debts would in future be presented as in a balance sheet.

The Greens want Saxony to handle tax money with care. Everyone should be able to see what the state spends money on. The state should lead by example on climate protection. It should reach its climate goals sooner. For example with solar panels and renovated buildings.

The Greens want to add sustainability reporting to the state's financial accounts and treat climate and environmental risks as financial risks. A sustainability ratio is to be calculated for the budget and raised over time. According to the platform, this would provide the transparency needed for budget decisions.

The Greens want Saxony's budget to be more sustainable. The state should report how sustainably it spends money. Risks from climate and the environment should be counted too. One number should show how sustainable the budget is. That number should go up every year.

The Greens want to evaluate the reformed property tax and adjust it where needed so that it reflects real conditions more accurately. The tax administration is also to focus more on audits and on-site presence. According to the platform, this would bring in more revenue without placing extra burdens on honest taxpayers.

The Greens want to take a close look at the new property tax. They want to change the rules if needed. Tax offices should also do more checks on site. This should bring in more money for the state. Honest people should not pay more because of it.

The Greens want to fundamentally reform Saxony's debt brake and modernize the state's fiscal constitution. In the platform's view, the current rule holds back innovation, puts the state's attractiveness for business at risk and leaves it little room to act in downturns. Special funds are to be set up only for large, multi-year and unavoidable purposes.

The Greens want to change Saxony's debt brake a lot. The debt brake limits how much the state may borrow. The Greens say the rule is too strict. Saxony should be able to spend more in bad times. That way the state can help the economy better.

The Greens want to give Saxony's municipalities better base funding and more financial leeway. To do so, they want to reform the state's fiscal equalization law in particular. According to the platform, the goal is for cities and towns to be able to carry out both mandatory tasks and voluntary public services over the long term.

The Greens want to give cities and towns more money. To do that, they want to change a law. The law sets how the state shares money with towns. Towns should decide for themselves what they need the money for. For new tasks, they should get the needed money right away.

The Left wants to abolish or fundamentally reform the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) at the federal level and in Saxony so the state can borrow to invest in infrastructure and climate protection. Public investment companies are to be set up for this purpose.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The Left wants to scrap it or change it a lot. Then the state can borrow more money. It should use the money to build and repair schools, hospitals and networks.

The Left wants to ease the burden on low and middle incomes and tax corporations, top earners and the wealthy more heavily. It justifies this with what it sees as excessive inequality in income and wealth.

The Left wants to share money differently. People with low or middle incomes should pay less. Big companies and rich people should pay more taxes.

The Left wants to reorganize the financial relationship between the state and municipalities and base it on municipal needs. A self-government lump sum and participatory budgets are meant to allow more decisions to be made locally.

Towns and villages have too little money. The Left wants to give them as much as they need. Part of the money should be free to use. Local people should help decide how money is spent.

The SPD wants to be able to amend the Saxon constitution, specifically regarding the debt brake and direct democracy. It regards the current provisions as outdated.

The SPD wants to change the constitution of Saxony. This is about the debt brake. The debt brake limits how much money the state may borrow. It is also about referendums. The SPD thinks the rules on these are outdated.

The SPD supports introducing the Kindergrundsicherung (basic child allowance) at the federal level and wants to develop it further. It also calls for abolishing Ehegattensplitting (joint tax splitting for married couples) in favor of a tax policy geared to children and families.

All children should have the same chances. The SPD backs the federal basic child allowance. That is a cash benefit for children. The tax break for married couples should end. Families with children should do better on taxes instead.

The SPD wants the Schuldenbremse (constitutional debt brake) reviewed in order to allow more investment. A cross-party commission of federal, state and local governments is to draft a proposal.

The SPD wants to review the debt brake. The debt brake limits how much the state may borrow. The SPD wants more money for investments in the future. A commission should make a proposal.

The SPD wants to loosen the debt brake in the Saxon constitution and make it more flexible. In the platform's view, the repayment periods are too short and the rules for cyclical borrowing too strict. Only a reform, it argues, can keep Saxony competitive as a location.

The debt brake limits new state debt. The SPD thinks the rule in Saxony is too strict. The state should be able to borrow more when the economy is weak. It should be allowed to pay back debt more slowly. The exact rules should be in an ordinary law.

The SPD wants to change how money is distributed between the state and local governments so that all towns, cities and counties have enough room to make their own decisions. Larger investments are to become possible without borrowing.

Towns and cities get money from the state. The SPD wants to change how this is shared. All local governments should have enough money for their own decisions. They should be able to pay for big projects without debt.

The SPD advocates a simple inheritance tax levied as a federal tax and wants to scrap tax advantages for the very wealthy. The revenue is to fund a basic inheritance of 60,000 euros that young people receive at age 18.

The SPD wants to change the tax on inheritances. Very rich people should no longer get tax advantages. The money should pay for a basic inheritance for young people. That is 60,000 euros on their 18th birthday.