2024-07-12 20:52:54
The timetable for the 2025 federal budget has been set. The traffic light government does not want to suspend the debt brake next year either.
The traffic light government also wants to adhere to the debt brake next year. t-online learned this from coalition circles after the final budget discussions between Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD), Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) and Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP). A financial emergency that would allow the taking on of more than planned debt is therefore not foreseen.
According to information from t-online, the budgets of the individual ministries are said to be at about the same level as the medium-term financial planning, which means that in the end the ministers saved as much as they should have. The fact that the usual federal subsidies for investments at Deutsche Bahn are being converted into loans is also said to have provided more financial leeway.
An increase of 1.2 billion euros is reportedly planned for the defense budget, and another billion euros will also be spent on internal security. And funds for children and families at risk of poverty will also increase by around one billion euros.
Government sources said that there would also be 1,000 additional police officers in the federal police force next year. Lindner announced around one billion euros more than previously planned for the security authorities. According to government sources, the civil protection agency, the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) and customs are also to be better equipped.
According to information from coalition circles, the package to stimulate the economy includes comprehensive tax relief. In the fight against bracket creep, citizens are to be relieved of around 20 billion euros in income tax in 2025 and 2026.
There will also be incentives for more employment. Those who work overtime will not have to pay taxes on the wages they receive (read here how many hours of overtime are actually allowed). In future, employer contributions to pension and unemployment insurance will be paid directly as wages to employees who are already receiving a pension.
A “start-up financing” is to be introduced in the citizen’s allowance. If long-term unemployed people get a job and leave the citizen’s allowance, they should now keep significantly more of their earnings in the first year without this being counted towards housing benefit, for example.
At the same time, the traffic light coalition is planning a long-term reduction in electricity taxes and more depreciation options for investments. It also wants to reduce bureaucracy. Mandatory practical checks are to be introduced in all ministries. There are to be special depreciation allowances for electric cars used for commercial purposes.
The measures agreed upon by the traffic light coalition could lead to an increase of more than half a percent in economic growth. According to information from the German Press Agency, this could correspond to an increase of 26 billion euros in gross domestic product.
- Also read: Traffic light plans surprise for basic child benefit
There will also be a supplementary budget of eleven billion euros for 2024, which had already been speculated about several weeks ago. It was initially unclear to what extent the additional money in the current year would provide financial leeway in the coming year. Reference was made to lower tax revenues, higher expenditure on citizens’ income and higher costs for promoting renewable energies.
The traffic light coalition has also agreed to increase child benefit by five euros. The German Press Agency learned this from coalition circles. According to this, the child supplement for needy families will also be increased by five euros next year. Two billion euros per year are earmarked for childcare in daycare centers in the 2025 federal budget.
Scholz, Habeck and Lindner struggled to reach an agreement on the budget until early Friday morning. They presented the results at a press conference in Berlin at 11 a.m. The negotiations dragged on longer than expected; the traffic light government had originally wanted to present a draft for the federal budget on Wednesday.
The Greens welcomed the agreement in principle. “I think it is good that we are now demonstrating our ability to act in the geopolitical situation,” party leader Ricarda Lang told the German Press Agency before the start of a meeting of the Green parliamentary group in Berlin.