Overview
- Klingbeil, who said Saturday he will unveil a plan within weeks, is driving a reform that cuts income taxes for lower and middle earners.
- He targets relief for about 95% of employees worth several hundred euros a year starting on January 1, 2027.
- Funding is contested, with the SPD pushing higher levies on top incomes and inheritances and the Union rejecting that course.
- Chancellor’s Office chief Thorsten Frei warns against a reform framed as pure redistribution and says the top rate should hit only the truly rich.
- CDU/CSU lawmakers Yannick Bury and Florian Dorn propose a rival plan to cut taxes by €25–30 billion and to pay for it by trimming subsidies.