A private person is one who disputes his livelihood mainly from his own wealth. These people do not have to work or no longer work. They live on income such as savings, interest, rental income or leasing. And the number of these privateers has risen sharply in Germany.
At the turn of the millennium there were still 372,000 people in Germany, there were already 415,000 private individuals in 2010. In 2018 it was 627,000 - nearly 70 percent more than it was 18 years ago. This results in a list of the Federal Statistical Office for the "Handelsblatt", the authority has confirmed the reported figures.
It's not just older managers who get out and live on their fortune. According to the newspaper, there were about 6,000 people under the age of 18 among the privatizers in 2018. The reasons why someone becomes or has become a privateer are not covered. In general, wealth is often increased by inheritance, but also by gains in the stock market or by the rising value of real estate.
"Financing the community"
The evaluation could further aggravate the wealth tax debate. SPD interim party leader Thorsten Schäfer-Gümbel told the "Handelsblatt", in cities and municipalities lacked investment in the record amount of 159 billion euros for schools, apartments and much more. "It is not just a question of justice that very high assets contribute more to the financing of the community, it is also a question of social success."
The SPD had presented last week cornerstones for a revival of property tax. The DGB also sees its demand for a wealth tax confirmed: "The figure shows how unfair it is in Germany and how high yielding assets is still how much leeway there is for the introduction of wealth tax," said DGB Board member Stefan Körzell ,
There is resistance to these demands. Family entrepreneur and car lender Erich Sixt had already spoken of an existential threat last week.
Read here: Debate on property tax - The lament of the poor rich
