Klingbeil wants to abolish spouse splitting

The regulation rewards married couples with large income differences for tax purposes. The greater the difference, the greater the tax advantage when filing a joint tax return, says Klingbeil. If the working hours of the lower earner are increased, the advantage disappears and there is usually little left of the additional earnings. This means that low-income earners have less incentive to work – and these are mostly women.

At the same time, he waves in the direction of the Union and refers to a proposal from Health Minister Nina Warken (CDU). Contribution-free co-insurance for spouses to abolish. “We will look at that very closely,” said Klingbeil. But added that both reforms would simultaneously eliminate a disincentive in the labor market.

Union parliamentary group spokesman vehemently contradicts the proposal

But it probably fell on deaf ears at the Union. “The Union parliamentary group has a clear stance on spousal splitting: We are sticking to it. A marriage is a maintenance community, the partners enter into mutual maintenance obligations. This must be reflected in taxation,” said Fritz Güntzler, financial policy spokesman for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. He adds that it is “an expression of the constitutional protection of marriage and family.” “It ensures that married couples with the same economic ability are taxed equally.” He also doubts that the introduction is only constitutionally permissible for newly married couples.

“Suggestion not effective”

Florian Köbler, head of the German Tax Union, also sees it similarly. “The proposal dates back to the time of traffic lights and is also not effective. The Federal Constitutional Court would certainly review whether unequal treatment of marriages after the deadline is permissible,” he tells FOCUS online. “In my opinion, only a transfer to a family split would be worth discussing,” he says.

According to Union man Fritzler, 26.6 million taxpayers would benefit from this – 90 percent of couples have children. But Fritzler argues otherwise, that many women are unable to extend their working hours “due to a lack of childcare options or unreliable daycare times.” Instead, according to Fritzler, it would be better to create more daycare places. “If there is a shortage of around 300,000 daycare places nationwide, then that is the biggest brake on more mothers working.” The federal, state and local governments would have to pay additional taxes. In addition to better childcare, there is also a need for “better transitions from mini-jobs to employment subject to social security contributions and greater activation of existing workforce potential”.

Relief for 95 percent of employees

Klingbeil had also said earlier in the speech: “We as a society will have to work more overall.” Those who are already at their limits should be relieved by releasing “other potential”. The current problems on the German labor market are “obvious” – there are high part-time rates, incentives for early retirement and transfer systems that do not create an incentive for overtime.

At the same time, the Vice Chancellor emphasized that work must also become more attractive in professional life. To this end, he announced an income tax reform with the aim of relieving the burden on 95 percent of employees. He did not give details such as income limits or tax rates, but it would have to be about relief of “several hundred euros a year”. The whole thing also has to be financed: “It is completely clear to me that high incomes and high assets will make a contribution to this.”

In doing so, Klingbeil distanced himself from CSU boss Markus Söder, who clearly rejected a higher top tax rate at the beginning of the week. “Our principle must be: taxes down, not up,” Söder told “Stern,” and anything else would be “a slap in the face for the top performers in medium-sized businesses.” He wants to finance tax cuts through savings in the budget.