What do the parties in Schleswig-Holstein say on finance and taxes?

The CDU commits to the Schuldenbremse (debt brake) and wants to close the gap in the state's financial planning without raising taxes. The main reason given is fairness between generations.

The CDU wants the state to take on almost no new debt. This rule is called the debt brake. Taxes should not go up for this. The state should slow its spending growth and still invest a lot.

The CDU wants to move the state budget over the coming years from cash-based accounting to Doppik, the double-entry bookkeeping modeled on commercial law. This is meant to avoid misallocation and make decisions easier for citizens to follow.

Today the state only records income and spending. The CDU wants a different kind of bookkeeping. It is called Doppik. It also shows assets and debts. This should make it clearer how the state handles money.

The CDU does not consider the federal model for the Grundsteuer (property tax) the best method and wants to use the opt-out clause for the states. Schleswig-Holstein is to get its own model, which the party sees as simpler and fairer.

Owners of land and houses pay property tax. The federal government has a model for it. The CDU finds it too complicated. It wants a separate, simpler model for Schleswig-Holstein.

The CDU wants to act more firmly against tax fraud, aggressive tax planning and money laundering, and to tax corporations where they generate their revenue. At the same time, dealing with the tax office is to become simpler and more digital.

The CDU wants to fight tax fraud and money laundering harder. Big corporations should pay taxes where they earn money. People should be able to file taxes online. In simple cases an app should be enough.

The CDU wants the tax system to take children into account more, give single parents relief and flatten the progressive tax curve. It keeps Ehegattensplitting (joint taxation of married couples), and the income tax schedule is to be adjusted continuously to price trends.

The CDU wants families to pay less tax. This applies especially to single parents. Middle incomes should also pay less. Taxes should not rise quietly when prices rise. Joint taxation for married couples should stay.

The CDU rejects a new wealth tax and any tightening of inheritance and gift tax. It argues that collecting such taxes takes a great deal of effort and would drain mid-sized businesses of money they need for investment.

The CDU does not want a tax on wealth. The tax on inheritances and gifts should not get stricter either. The CDU says such taxes take a lot of effort. And businesses need their money to invest.

The CDU wants to exempt people in Schleswig-Holstein from the property transfer tax when they buy their first owner-occupied home. The state's tax rate is also to fall to the national average. The platform argues that many families cannot save enough equity.

People buying their first home should pay no property transfer tax. This applies if they live in it themselves. The tax should also go down for everyone else. The CDU mainly wants to help young families.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for allowances paid for volunteer work to remain tax-free up to €1,000 a month.

Some volunteers get a small payment for their work. The CDU wants no tax on this up to 1,000 euros a month. It wants to push for this at the national level.

The FDP wants to use the Bundesrat (the chamber of the states) to make the reduced 7 percent VAT rate on restaurant meals permanent. The rate should also apply to drinks. The platform justifies this with the pandemic's impact on hotels and restaurants.

Restaurants currently pay a lower tax of 7 percent on food. This is set to end at the end of 2022. The FDP wants the lower tax to stay for good. It should also apply to drinks.

The FDP calls for an exemption allowance in the real estate transfer tax for the first purchase of an owner-occupied home. If that does not happen, the tax rate should be lowered across the board. The platform argues that high purchase costs keep middle-class families from buying a home.

People who buy a house pay a tax on the purchase. The FDP wants to waive or reduce this tax for a first home. Otherwise the tax should go down for everyone. This should help more people afford their own home.

The FDP wants to push at the federal level for residential buildings to be depreciated for tax purposes at three percent a year instead of two. This is meant to allow lower rents in new buildings.

People who build homes can deduct the cost from their taxes bit by bit. Today that is two percent a year. The FDP wants three percent. This should make building cheaper and lower rents.

The FDP stands by the debt brake and wants a quick return to balanced budgets. At the same time, a minimum rate of investment is to be written into the state constitution. The platform argues that the two together lead to the right budget priorities.

The FDP wants to keep the debt brake. The debt brake is a rule: the state may take on almost no new debt. At the same time, the state should invest more, for example in roads and buildings. At least 10 percent of the budget should go to investment. This duty should be written into the state constitution.

The FDP wants to sell state shareholdings where there is no important state interest or where private firms can do the job just as well and as economically. In addition, the state-owned agency handling the legacy assets of HSH Nordbank is to be wound down quickly to rule out further financial risks.

The state owns shares in companies. The FDP wants to sell such shares when the state does not really need them. Private firms should take over tasks if they can do them just as well. The FDP also wants to close the state's bad bank quickly. A bad bank manages old, risky deals of a bank.

The FDP wants Schleswig-Holstein to calculate property tax using a simple area-based model instead of the federal value-based model. It considers the federal model bureaucratic and prone to lawsuits. The reform is not supposed to raise the tax burden.

People pay property tax on land and houses. The FDP wants to base it only on size. The value of the land should not matter. This should be simpler and mean less paperwork. The tax should not go up because of the reform.

The FDP wants to amend the municipal charges act so that road improvement charges disappear across the whole state. Through the same law, the first dog in every household is to be exempt from the dog tax.

In some towns, residents must pay when their street is rebuilt. The FDP wants to end these charges everywhere in the state. Also, the first dog in a household should no longer be taxed. The FDP says a dog matters to many people and is not a luxury.

The FDP wants to lower taxes and charges on energy sources and everyday goods. It cites the price increases caused by the pandemic and the war against Ukraine, arguing that the state should not earn extra from crises and price shocks.

Electricity, gas, oil and gasoline have become much more expensive. Food costs more too. The FDP wants to cut taxes on these things. The state should not earn more from high prices than before.

The FDP wants a lasting fair split of funds between the state and its municipalities and a prompt overhaul of the municipal fiscal equalization system. Investment funds should go mainly to towns and cities, which according to the platform bear most of the cost of daycare centers, schools and roads.

The state gives money to local governments. The FDP wants to share this money fairly. Money for building should go mostly to towns and cities. They pay for daycare, schools and roads.

The FDP wants the federal government to permanently give municipalities a larger share of value-added tax revenue. It should also contribute more to costs that its decisions create for the states and municipalities.

Local governments should get more money. The federal government should give up part of its sales tax income for this. It should also pay more when it decides on new tasks. The FDP says: whoever orders must pay.

The FDP calls for a ceiling on the Nivellierungssätze, the standardized rates used to calculate a municipality's tax capacity in fiscal equalization. It aims to prevent a spiral of rising local property and business tax rates and to make designating commercial zones more worthwhile.

The state works out how much tax a town could collect. It uses fixed rates for this. The FDP wants a ceiling on these rates. That way local taxes should not keep going up.

The FDP wants Hamburg's payments for sediment management to go into a special fund controlled by the state parliament. The money should mainly benefit coastal fishing in the Elbe and the North Sea.

Hamburg pays Schleswig-Holstein money for its harbor silt. The FDP wants to put this money in a separate fund. The state parliament should decide on the fund. The money should mostly help coastal fishers.

The FDP wants to push in the Bundesrat for less tax bureaucracy. Minor taxes that are costly to collect should be abolished, founders and side businesses with low earnings should be exempt from advance VAT returns for two years, and the effects of tax policy should be evaluated.

The FDP wants less paperwork for taxes. Small taxes that take a lot of effort should go. People who start a business should file fewer tax reports for two years. Tax laws should also be checked to see what they really do.

The FDP wants to expand the state's pension reserve fund so that it can cover all pension obligations in the long run. Monthly payments for each new civil servant are to rise step by step, and the fund's assets are to be protected in the state constitution.

The state must pay pensions to its civil servants later. There is a savings fund for this. The FDP wants to pay more money into this fund. The fund should later pay for all pensions. The constitution should protect the money.

The Greens do not want to sell state land and buildings to relieve the budget in the short term. Instead, the state would buy land where possible to expand universities or promote social housing.

The state owns land and buildings. The Greens do not want to sell them for quick money. The state should rather buy new land. Universities can grow there or affordable homes can be built.

The Greens want to reorient debt policy so that states may borrow for net investment. Until the Basic Law is amended, investment companies are to finance municipal projects such as school and housing construction.

The Greens want to change the rules on debt. The states should be allowed to borrow money for investments. Investments are things like new schools. Until then, special companies should raise the money.

The Greens want to fight tax fraud, narrow loopholes and keep demanding that very high incomes contribute more to financing the state. This includes a modern tax administration, an anonymous digital inbox for tips, and the purchase of tax data.

The Greens want to fight tax fraud. People with very high incomes should pay more tax. People should be able to report fraud online without giving their name. The state should also be allowed to buy tax data.

The Greens want to orient the state's financial system toward sustainability. State guarantees are to follow climate protection goals, the state is to issue green bonds, and savings bank boards are to have a minimum qualification in sustainability.

The Greens want the state to invest its money sustainably. The state should put no money into nuclear power, coal, oil or gas. Bosses and supervisors of savings banks should know about sustainability. Schools should teach more about sustainable finance.

The Greens want to give municipalities more room to invest and support them through investment companies in the areas of schools, social housing and the shift to climate-friendly heating. The party backs a nationwide fund to pay down old municipal debt, with conditions.

Towns and cities should be able to invest more money. The Greens want to help them. This is about schools, affordable housing and climate-friendly heating. The federal government should set up a fund for old town debts.

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 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 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.

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 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 SSW supports the debt brake but wants to add a rule that allows for investment. It also wants to revive the federal debate about a joint fund to pay off the old debts of the federal government, the states and municipalities.

The state may only take on a little new debt. This rule is called the debt brake. The SSW wants to keep the rule. But there should be an exception for investments. Also, all levels of government should pay off old debts together.

The SSW wants to reduce social insurance contributions for low incomes and raise the basic income tax allowance. The aim is to make work pay more.

People with low pay hand over a lot for social insurance. The SSW wants to lower these payments for them. Their income tax should go down too. A larger part of their pay should be tax-free.

The SSW wants to introduce a wealth tax, raise tax rates on very high incomes and profits, and tax large inheritances more heavily. It justifies this with a fairer sharing of burdens and the costs of the COVID crisis.

Very rich people should pay more tax. The SSW wants a tax on large fortunes. Very high incomes should also be taxed more. People who inherit a lot should pay more too. Ordinary citizens would get tax-free allowances.

The SSW calls for a tax on all securities trades, ideally across the EU. If no European solution is reached, Germany should introduce the tax on its own.

People who trade stocks and other securities should pay a tax on it. Ideally this would apply in the whole EU. If that fails, Germany should bring in the tax alone. Small savers would pay nothing on up to 3,000 euros a year.

The SSW wants multinational corporations to pay taxes where they generate their revenue and wants tax loopholes closed. Tax evasion should be pursued more vigorously and tax investigation units given more staff.

Big companies often move profits to countries with low taxes. The SSW wants to stop this. Companies should pay tax where they sell. More experts should uncover tax fraud.