BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig has defended her rejection of the planned relief bonus in the Federal Council. “As a politician, I have a principle that you should only promise things that will actually happen,” said the SPD politician on the ARD program “Caren Miosga”. The federal government forgot to explain that it is not the state that pays these 1,000 euros, but the employer. “And small and medium-sized businesses can’t do that.”
Schwesig spoke out against pursuing the bonus plan. “So I advise the federal government to take this off the table and rather make the big move straight away,” she said. This is an income tax reform that would particularly relieve the burden on small and medium incomes of up to 3,000 euros. The relief would be permanent and would reach everyone. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) had previously made similar statements. He had also called for a better focus on income tax reform.
Provisional end in the Federal Council
It was planned that employers could voluntarily pay their employees up to 1,000 euros tax-free as relief until June 30, 2027. They should be able to deduct the payment from their taxes as a business expense, so the state would at least partially contribute to the premium. The Federal Council stopped the project, only 4 out of 16 states agreed. The states did not agree to the counter-financing. There was also a lot of criticism from business about the bonus.
It is unclear whether the federal government now wants to call the mediation committee of the Bundestag and Bundesrat to find a compromise. On Tuesday, the relief bonus is likely to be a topic in the black-red coalition committee./thn/DP/zb
