Federal Minister of Finance Christian Lindner wants to relieve companies above all with more possibilities for tax depreciation. "I'm working on that," said the FDP chairman yesterday at the SME Day of the BVMW industry association. If things go well, there will also be an extension of so-called degressive depreciation on movable assets such as machines and systems. That alone would have a volume of around three billion euros for the economy. Declining balance depreciation means depreciation whose amount decreases from year to year.
The Federal Ministry of Finance wants to extend numerous measures as part of the fourth Corona Tax Assistance Act, including depreciation on movable assets. According to Lindner, the draft law is expected to be in the cabinet on Wednesday.
What will become of "super write-offs"?
The so-called super write-offs, with which, according to the coalition agreement, investments in digitization and climate protection should actually be promoted in 2022 and 2023, are not yet included in the draft. A decision has not yet been made about a possible postponement of the super write-offs, said Lindner. Discussion with the economy is still being sought here in order to achieve the best result.
The possible delay was recently met with criticism. "I see no reason for a postponement," said Torsten Schmidt from Essen's RWI Leibniz Institute for Economic Research: "Companies held back on investments during the corona pandemic." An investment boost can therefore be expected when the pandemic subsides. The federal government should use this to promote the areas of digitization and climate protection.
"Use every opportunity for relief"
There is currently no political majority for a complete abolition of the solidarity surcharge or a reform of income and corporate tax, Lindner continued. But he wants to use every opportunity for relief.
Solutions to the shortage of skilled workers and a reduction in bureaucracy are currently more urgent for many companies than tax reform. The federal government is also considering an earlier abolition of the EEG surcharge, i.e. the electricity price surcharge for the expansion of renewable energies. This can be achieved from mid-2022 instead of early 2023. The relief would amount to around 1.1 billion euros a month. On the other hand, he is skeptical about temporary tax cuts, such as value added tax, says the FDP politician.
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