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

The AfD wants to cut value-added tax on staple foods and baby supplies to zero and to tax energy less. Families would also get relief on municipal fees and charges. The platform regards the higher cost of living as politically caused.

The AfD wants to make life cheaper for families. There should be no more sales tax on basic foods and baby items. Energy should also be taxed less. Families should pay lower fees to their town.

The AfD wants to lower taxes and levies and simplify tax law. It rejects the carbon levy as ideologically motivated. The standard VAT rate would fall significantly, and a reduced rate would apply to energy and food.

The AfD wants lower taxes. The CO2 tax should go. That is an extra charge on gasoline, oil and gas. The sales tax, called VAT, should drop a lot. For energy and food it should be especially low.

The AfD wants cash to remain permanently available without restrictions. It rejects a digital euro issued by the European Central Bank because it sees this as a step toward abolishing cash.

The AfD wants to keep cash. Everyone should still be able to pay in cash without limits. The AfD does not want a digital euro. It thinks a digital euro could make cash disappear.

The AfD calls for ending the Staatsleistungen (historic state payments) to the Protestant and Catholic churches, as the Basic Law provides. It sees these payments as a reason for the churches' closeness to governments.

The churches get money from the state every year. This money comes from everyone's taxes. The AfD wants to end these payments. The constitution has called for this for a long time.

The AfD wants to concentrate state money on the state's core tasks and devote a larger share of the budget to investment. In the platform's view, Thuringia does not have a revenue problem but a spending problem, while schools, sports facilities, and roads receive too little funding.

The AfD wants to spend the state's money differently. The state should invest more in schools, roads, and security. Other things should get less money. The AfD says Thuringia spends too much on the wrong things.

The AfD wants to end public funding for projects it classifies as ideological, including climate projects, benefits for migrants, and government publicity work. It also wants fewer state-level grant programs so that the administration has less work.

The AfD wants to stop paying for certain projects with tax money. It calls these projects ideological. Examples are climate projects and money for migrants. There should also be fewer grant programs. That should mean less work for government offices.

At the federal level, the AfD supports ending “kalte Progression” (bracket creep) so that effort pays off more in tax terms. State and local taxes that take a great deal of administrative work to collect should be reviewed.

The AfD wants to end bracket creep. This means: a raise that only makes up for inflation can still lead to higher taxes. That should stop. The AfD also wants to check taxes that cause a lot of work in government offices.

The AfD wants a quarter of the state budget to go to municipalities, cities, and counties. The state should also pay in full for the social tasks that counties and independent cities carry out on its behalf.

The AfD wants to give towns and villages more money. A quarter of the state's money should go to them. The state should also pay for tasks it hands to local governments. Then local governments can decide more on their own.

The AfD wants a hardship fund for all property owners who paid more than 1,000 euros in road improvement charges. It should apply retroactively and not only cover cases with deferred or installment payments.

Property owners used to pay when their street was rebuilt. These charges ended in 2019. Some people still got bills afterward for earlier years. The AfD wants a fund to help these people. It should cover everyone who paid more than 1,000 euros.

The BSW wants a full audit of state finances and a review of the administration and state programs to see which are needed. At the same time, state assets such as land and museum collections should be used more to develop Thuringia.

The BSW wants to check how much money the state has. The administration should be reviewed too. State programs should be checked to see if they are needed. Land owned by the state should provide cheap energy. Art from museum storage should attract tourists.

The BSW wants Thuringia to launch an initiative in the Bundesrat (the federal council of states) to bring back a wealth tax on multimillionaires and billionaires. The revenue would go to the states for education, hospitals and school buildings.

The BSW wants a tax on very large fortunes. This tax does not exist today. Only very rich people would pay it. Thuringia should propose it in the Bundesrat. The money should go to schools and hospitals.

The BSW demands that the new property tax rules not raise overall revenue. Citizens should not end up paying more, in line with what the program says was promised politically.

The property tax is getting new rules. Owners of homes and land pay this tax. The BSW wants the state to collect no extra money from it. Citizens should not pay more.

The CDU calls for targeted incentives for investment in research, development, and sustainability. Profits kept in the company are to be taxed less, and certain investments are to be written off faster. The party also wants to bring large-scale research institutions to Thuringia.

The CDU wants companies to invest more in research. To help, they should pay less tax on profits they keep in the company. Companies should be able to deduct investments from their taxes faster. Large research centers should come to Thuringia.

The CDU wants to push at the federal level for VAT on restaurant meals to return permanently to 7 percent. In addition, working hours in tourism are to become more flexible, and a special anti-discrimination rule in Thuringia's restaurant law is to be dropped.

The CDU wants to help restaurants. The tax on meals eaten in restaurants should go back to 7 percent. Working hours in tourism should become more flexible. A special rule against discrimination in the restaurant law should be removed.

The CDU wants to lower the real estate transfer tax in Thuringia from 5 to 3.5 percent. At the federal level, it wants states to be allowed to introduce their own exemptions. Families would then no longer have to pay the tax at all.

People who buy a house or land pay a tax. The CDU wants to lower this tax. Later, families should not pay it at all. For that, the federal government must change a law.

The CDU wants to make the municipal fiscal equalization system (KFA) simpler and more predictable and to favor small municipalities. When the state hands down tasks, it should also pay for them. Municipalities would get more freedom over the local business tax rate and an investment fund.

The state gives money to towns and villages. The CDU wants to change how this money is shared. Small villages should get more. If the state hands over tasks, it should pay for them. Towns should find it easier to lower the business tax. A new fund should give cheap loans for investments.

The CDU wants state budgets without new debt and wants to repay crisis-era debt quickly. A budget structure commission is to review the state's tasks, spending and revenue.

The CDU wants no new debt for Thuringia. It wants to pay back debt from the Covid and energy crises quickly. A commission should check what the state spends money on. Unneeded spending should end.

The CDU rejects higher taxes and favors tax cuts for citizens, small and mid-sized businesses and industry. Government fees are not to rise for two years.

The CDU does not want higher taxes. It wants to lower taxes. Government fees should stay the same for two years. People and companies should pay less this way.

The Left wants to give municipalities better funding and further develop the municipal fiscal equalization system. At federal level, it calls for a separate chamber for municipalities, a higher share of tax revenue and a reform of the local business tax.

The Left wants to give towns and cities more money. They should get a bigger share of taxes. There should be a separate body for municipalities at federal level. Municipalities should decide more for themselves.

The Left wants projects to be funded as a rule for three to five years instead of one. This is meant to give project organizers planning certainty and reduce the state's administrative burden. The state budget is also to be passed on time each year.

Many projects now get state money for only one year. The Left wants to change that. Projects should mostly get money for three to five years. That way the organizers can plan better. Organizers are the clubs and groups behind a project.

The Left wants to replace the debt brake, which it regards as an obstacle to investment. Investment in public facilities should also be financeable through borrowing. In the party's view, postponing such investment burdens future generations more than new debt does.

The debt brake limits new government debt. The Left wants to replace it with other rules. The state should be allowed to borrow for investments. Examples are schools, hospitals, and buses and trains. The party says later generations suffer without this money.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for everyone to receive a basic inheritance of 20,000 euros on turning 18. It justifies this with its goal of greater social justice.

Everyone should get 20,000 euros at age 18. The SPD calls this a basic inheritance. The SPD wants to push for this at the federal level. It wants more fairness.

The SPD wants to help municipalities work off their investment backlog in a predictable way through permanent investment grants. A fund is to provide missing co-financing as low-interest loans, and a digital database is to make access to grants easier.

Many towns need to renew roads and buildings. They often lack the money. The SPD wants to give towns lasting money for investment. A new fund should give cheap loans. A database should show all grant programs.

The SPD wants to hold the investment share of the state budget between 16 and 18 percent. At the same time, loans taken out during the pandemic are to keep being repaid, and reserves are to be built up for unforeseen developments.

The state should spend a lot on investments. That is spending for the future, such as buildings. It should be 16 to 18 percent of the budget. The state should also pay back debt from the COVID years. And it should save money for emergencies.

The SPD wants to push at the federal level for abolishing the constitutional debt brake in its current form. In its view, the rule severely limits the state's ability to act, especially for the states. The borrowing rules in Thuringia's budget law are also to be reviewed.

The debt brake limits new government debt. It is part of the German constitution. The SPD wants to end it in its current form. It says the states cannot invest enough otherwise. Thuringia should also be allowed to borrow more for investments.

The SPD wants to create a Thuringian transformation fund to finance future-oriented investments over the long term. It is meant to give a boost to structural and climate policy. To finance it, the party wants to examine issuing “green” bonds.

The SPD wants a new fund for Thuringia. A fund is a large pot of money. The money is for investments in the future and for the climate. Companies and towns can then plan with more certainty. The SPD will look at green bonds to pay for it.

The SPD wants to review the state's funding programs for effectiveness, simplify them and consolidate them. It is also considering cuts. A central platform is to process all state programs fully electronically, and the Thüringer Aufbaubank (the state development bank) is to be strengthened.

The state has many funding programs. The SPD wants to check them and make them simpler. Some programs may be dropped. An online platform should handle all applications digitally. The state development bank should give cheap loans and guarantees.