The FDP has rejected criticism from the SPD about a planned increase in the child tax allowance. SPD party leader Lars Klingbeil criticized Finance Minister Christian Lindner’s (FDP) plans in the “Bild am Sonntag” as “unfair” because they would only relieve the burden on families with very high incomes. Because child benefit for lower incomes should remain the same. The FDP presidium now said that the current approach to tax allowances and child benefit goes back to Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD). Klingbeil should coordinate better with Scholz.
“It was decided in 2022, at the suggestion of Olaf Scholz, to increase child benefit disproportionately to 250 euros,” the German Press Agency learned from the FDP executive committee. “The child tax allowance, however, should be added in the usual procedure. Nothing else is planned.” If the SPD has a unified position, the coalition can advise. “But it is not acceptable for the Finance Ministry to be criticized by the SPD if it implements agreements with Olaf Scholz.”
FDP: Taxpayers must be relieved
FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr told “Welt” that the child benefit increase was the right thing to do to help families cope with inflation quickly and unbureaucratically. “Now this increase must also be reflected in tax law,” said Dürr. After all, it is “the taxpayers who have to finance the demands for ever more and higher services. They need to be relieved.”
Parents automatically receive either child benefit or the income tax allowance for children. The tax office checks what is more advantageous for you. The allowance is often only worthwhile for higher incomes. The allowance was raised from 6,024 euros to 6,384 on January 1st and, according to the Finance Ministry’s plans, should increase retroactively to 6,612 euros, as a ministry spokesman confirmed on Friday. The general basic allowance should also be increased. This is necessary because, as a result of inflation, the standard requirements for citizens’ money have also been increased more. In 2023, child benefit increased to a uniform amount of 250 euros per month and child.
“The SPD won’t go along with that”
Klingbeil told the “BamS” about the current plans: “I think it’s unfair to only relieve the burden on families with very high incomes. Especially the working middle, i.e. those who get up every day, work hard to earn their income and also look after their children, The neighbors and the club who care should be relieved.” These same people were still feeling the effects of inflation. “That’s why it’s completely clear to me that families with small and medium incomes also have to get more this year.”
The SPD’s financial policy spokesman, Michael Schrodi, told “BamS” about Lindner’s plans: “The SPD will not go along with that. There will be no majority for such plans from the Lindner house.” What Lindner has in mind is a savings program in the wrong place: “If there are 380 million for additional relief for the richest parents, then he also has the money for an increase in child benefit.”
Objections also from the Greens
There are also objections from the ranks of the Greens. “Families in the middle must not go away empty-handed,” said parliamentary group vice-president Andreas Audretsch to the newspaper. It is common practice to increase child benefit and child allowance equally. “Citizens rightly expect this reliability.”
The Green Party leader Katharina Dröge made a similar statement. The child allowance benefits very rich parents, she said on the ZDF program “Berlin Direkt”. From their point of view, it was clearly agreed at the traffic light that the child allowance and child benefit should increase to the same extent. “From my point of view, the federal government is continuing to talk about this and the SPD has also commented on it in the form of its party leader and confirmed my perception,” she said.
