Despite the fights within the coalition to distribute money and the 2024 budget, the FDP has again rejected possible tax increases. Your Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai said on Sunday evening in the ARD program “Report from Berlin”:
“Regardless of what we are talking about – at the end of the day it must be clear: there will be no tax increases. There will be no additional burdens for companies, for people in our country with the FDP.” No additional burdens, that was also stipulated in the traffic light coalition agreement. “We should all stick to that,” said Djir-Sarai.
In the course of preparing the 2024 federal budget, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) clashed violently. On behalf of the green-led ministries, Habeck had suggested more government revenue, brought cuts in environmentally harmful subsidies and bans into play. Finance Minister Lindner, on the other hand, rejected tax increases or other “structural additional burdens” for citizens and business on behalf of the FDP-led departments.
The departments have announced additional requests worth billions, some of which are unclear how they are to be financed. On March 15, the cabinet is to decide on the benchmarks for the 2024 budget, which will then be formulated into a complete budget. In the end, the budget must be approved by the Bundestag.