Overview
- SPD leaders say they will publish their inheritance-tax concept next week, including a lifetime tax-free allowance for heirs and tighter rules on very large corporate inheritances.
- The SPD also plans to cut income tax for small and middle earners in 2026, framing relief for wages as a higher priority than across-the-board business tax cuts.
- The CSU urges bringing the planned corporate tax reduction forward to 1 July 2026, while the CDU backs an earlier cut only subject to financing and without a firm date.
- Social Democrats propose financing relief by increasing the burden on top incomes and wealth and by closing inheritance-tax loopholes, a stance the CSU has already rejected publicly.
- Economists warn that an early corporate tax cut could deliver limited short‑term growth at high fiscal cost, and rising social-insurance contributions could blunt household gains from income-tax relief.