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The relief package hangs over the budget like the sword of Damocles

2022-09-22T13:15:48.183Z


The relief package hangs over the budget like the sword of Damocles Created: 2022-09-22Updated: 2022-09-22 15:03 Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg. © Marijan Murat/dpa When relief becomes a burden: The planned traffic light measures could cost the state and municipalities in the south-west 4.8 billion euros. Kretschmann also has to fight for leewa


The relief package hangs over the budget like the sword of Damocles

Created: 2022-09-22Updated: 2022-09-22 15:03

Winfried Kretschmann (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg.

© Marijan Murat/dpa

When relief becomes a burden: The planned traffic light measures could cost the state and municipalities in the south-west 4.8 billion euros.

Kretschmann also has to fight for leeway in his own budget at the federal-state meeting.

Stuttgart - Grün-Schwarz has agreed on a draft for the next double budget, but there are big question marks behind the budget, mainly because of the costs for the federal relief package.

As expected, the Greens and CDU agreed on Wednesday evening in the budget committee to pay the 142,000 retired civil servants in the southwest an energy price flat rate of 300 euros.

Otherwise, the country held back with further investment commitments.

The Greens and the CDU are very concerned that the state and local authorities will have to contribute around 4.8 billion euros to the federal government's planned relief package.

The CDU in particular expects Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) to remain firm at the federal-state summit next Wednesday and, like other states, insist on greater federal participation.

Kretschmann had already explained that the share planned by the federal government was not manageable for the state.

The country is creating a buffer of 1.46 billion euros in the new budget and, despite the crisis, is hoping for a positive tax estimate at the end of October.

But the federal requirement would limit the country's leeway in the crisis and make further investments more difficult.

Finance Minister Danyal Bayaz said late on Wednesday evening: "The next few months will be full of imponderables in terms of economic development, energy supply and the necessary relief for citizens." Green politician.

According to calculations by his department, the traffic light package will mean additional costs of around 3.1 billion euros for the state, and almost another 1.7 billion euros for cities and municipalities in the south-west.

The so-called Inflation Compensation Act alone, including the increase in child benefit, will cost around 521 million euros next year and 765 million euros in 2024.

The announced housing benefit reform will burden Baden-Württemberg with a good 230 million euros a year.

The reduction in sales tax on gas will cost the country 296 million euros in 2023 and 128 million euros in the year after next.

Maintaining the lower sales tax in the catering trade costs 130 million euros a year.

The targeted inflation premium will mean a minus of around 34 million euros in the coming year and 21 million in 2024.

The planned end of double taxation of pensions is likely to result in shortfalls of around 125 million euros next year and 80 million euros in 2024.

The home office flat rate means a minus of 34 million euros per year.

And then there are the costs for the planned successor to the 9-euro ticket for rail transport.

The Ministry of Finance estimates that the country will have to invest 180 million a year for this.

Kretschmann had recently declared that it was not acceptable for the federal government to decide how to relieve the burden over the heads of the federal states.

“This is completely against the spirit and spirit of the federal order.

At the end of the day, we will no longer be prime ministers, but prefects.

That has to be stopped.” Before the beginning of September, the traffic light coalition presented a third package of measures to compensate for the rapidly rising prices, the extent of which the government estimates at around 65 billion euros.

At the meeting in the State Ministry, the round tentatively sealed the draft for the double budget for 2023/2024.

The concept is to be decided in the cabinet next Tuesday and then discussed in the state parliament.

However, the budget must be adjusted again after the negotiations with the federal government and the tax estimate in the fall.

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One thing is clear so far: the heads of the coalition want to comply with the debt brake again with a double budget.

In addition, the Greens and CDU want to spend almost 1.4 billion euros more despite inflation, the energy crisis and the pandemic.

In addition, it has already been agreed that almost 1,700 new jobs will be created, with new teachers being hired in particular.

The energy price lump sum for pensioners costs the state 45 million euros and is to be paid from the current 2022 budget.

In the event that the tax estimate is good, the Greens and CDU want to draw up priority lists for further investments.

Since the state benefits from the price increases in VAT, the coalition expects even higher revenues in the fall.

However, that is not certain.

In August, tax revenue fell by almost 40 percent compared to the same month last year.

This was confirmed by a spokesman for the Ministry of Finance of the "Heilbronner Voice" and the "Südkurier".

However, almost half of the decline can be explained by accounting fluctuations.

This is about the import sales tax.

The spokesman told the German Press Agency that no trend for the coming months could be derived from the figures for August.

It is already clear that the volunteer card planned in the coalition agreement with benefits for socially committed people should come if the tax estimate is good.

The card is intended to give volunteers, for example, reduced admission to the cinema, theater or swimming pool.

According to reports, 500,000 euros are estimated for this in a double budget.

dpa

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-09-22

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