Grand coalition agrees on partial abolition of solidarity tax

The grand coalition wants to abolish the solidarity surcharge from 2021, but only up to a certain income limit.

Although the grand coalition has already agreed in the coalition agreement to reduce the solidarity surcharge in this legislative period, there have been repeated debates between the coalition partners in recent months about the extent of the reduction. At the beginning of June, the CDU/CSU, as an advocate of the complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge, received backing from the Federal Audit Office: Only partially abolishing the solidarity surcharge would entail considerable constitutional and financial risks, as the basis for the solidarity surcharge would cease to exist at the end of 2019. There is therefore a real danger that the federal government will be condemned to billions in tax repayments. However, the coalition leaders have now agreed on only a partial abolition. From 2021, 90 % of taxpayers are to be relieved of the solidarity surcharge. Only taxpayers with an income of around 60,000 euros or more will still have to pay the solidarity surcharge for the time being.