SPD candidate for chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to push through tax increases for higher earners and the wealthy as well as relief for lower and middle incomes in the coming legislative period. He knows that he "agrees with the vast majority of citizens that we need to make our tax system fairer," the federal finance minister told the Düsseldorf-based "Rheinische Post" newspaper.

Scholz stressed that tax fairness includes "those who earn a lot, contributing a little more to the financing of the community, so that the lower and middle income bracket can be relieved somewhat." The SPD is also in favor of a wealth tax so that states and municipalities have more money available for infrastructure, daycare centers, schools, public transportation and the police.

Tax relief for high incomes, such as the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge demanded by the CDU/CSU and FDP, on the other hand, would be "a decision against the people," said the SPD candidate for chancellor. The solidarity surcharge would only be paid by 1.35 million citizens. However, the resulting revenue of a good eleven billion euros per year could not be dispensed with.

Scholz also wants to continue the federal government's current financial policy of high, credit-financed spending to combat the Corona crisis in 2022 and the years thereafter. He said the federal government had decided to "fight the pandemic and its consequences with all its might:" "It's a matter of making do, not spilling the beans." Neither in terms of investments in the future nor in the welfare state "must we skimp now, otherwise we will squander our country's opportunities," the SPD candidate for chancellor emphasized. As after the financial crisis of 2008/09, however, the federal government would "grow out of debt again in the medium term."

"Until the end of the pandemic, I will fight this crisis - with everything that is possible and necessary," the vice chancellor stressed. The Federal Republic has the "economic strength to cushion all the health and social consequences of the crisis," Scholz said. "The consequences of the Corona crisis will affect our tax revenues for several years, because the predicted level will not be reached, of course, due to the pandemic. In this respect, we will have to expect less revenue with continued high spending," the finance minister said.

"Next year, we will continue to spend a lot of money to protect our health and to finance the welfare state, which is getting us through this crisis very well right now. Investment levels must also remain high, otherwise we will gamble away our country's future opportunities," Scholz said. "We have to reflect all of this in the 2022 budget and the financial planning through 2025. By the end of March, the coalition must form an opinion on this - no one can shirk this decision," he stressed, referring to the CDU/CSU. CDU leader Armin Laschet had spoken out on Wednesday in favor of suspending the debt brake once again in 2022.

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