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Germany’s ruling coalition has agreed on sweeping tax, labour and pension reforms, including scrapping the right to obtain sick notes by telephone to reduce worker absenteeism in the country.
“We are working to increase the flexibility of our businesses,” Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday during a press conference in Berlin after lengthy talks between his centre-right CDU/CSU alliance 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, who had promised a “great leap forward” for German growth.
The package includes income tax cuts worth 10 billion euros ($11.4bn), to be financed by higher taxes on those earning more than 250,000 euros a year.
