The package includes income tax cuts worth 10 billion euros ($11.4bn), to be financed by higher taxes on the wealthy
Germany’s ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday, a breakthrough aimed at reviving the struggling economy and countering the rise of the far right.
“We are working to increase the flexibility of our businesses,” Merz told a Berlin press conference after lengthy talks between his centre-right CDU party and their coalition partners, the centre-left SPD.
“We are working to cut red tape. We are working to protect our welfare state, and we are working to ease the burden on employees and companies by lowering taxes,” said Merz while presenting the “Programme for Revival and Employment”.
The package includes income tax cuts worth 10 billion euros ($11.4bn), to be financed by higher taxes on the wealthy, as well as changes to the pension system that will eventually see the retirement age rise to 67.
