The Federal Fiscal Court continues to consider the solidarity surcharge to be lawful. In a decision announced on Monday, the top German financial judges dismissed the lawsuit brought by a couple from Bavaria. This had sued against the payment of the solidarity surcharge in 2020 and 2021.
If the Federal Fiscal Court had held the surcharge to be unconstitutional, the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe would have had to deal with it. However, the Federal Fiscal Court decided that it was not necessary to submit the case to the Federal Constitutional Court.
In contrast to the plaintiffs, the financial judges found it irrelevant whether the income from the solidarity surcharge was used for the construction of the East or not. This lies in the freedom of design of the legislature. The federal government may therefore continue to raise the solidarity surcharge because of the increased financial requirements for the unit, even if there is no longer a solidarity pact.
The taxpayers’ association had supported the plaintiff couple and hoped to be able to legally enforce relief for taxpayers.
In the 2019 law on the return of the solidarity compensation, the then grand coalition decided that higher earners – the top ten percent of incomes – must continue to pay the surcharge, the remaining 90 percent were exempt. According to the Federal Fiscal Court, the federal government had recently received eleven billion euros a year with the levy.
