Distribution of assets: Spahn on assets: “Whoever already had has more and more”

Union faction leader Jens Spahn denounces an unjust distribution of assets in Germany. “If you already had,” said the CDU politician in the ZDF talk show “Maybrit Illner”. “In recent years, especially in the low interest rate phase, we have had the situation that assets have actually almost grown on its own without greater our own intervention. Real estate values, stock values ​​and more.” Spahn admitted: “It is a problem, the distribution of assets.”

People with comparatively low income would also have to be involved in the formation of assets, said Spahn. He also called for the social security systems to adapt to demographic change, i.e. the aging society. “Growth is the prerequisite for functioning social systems.”

Waiting for the constitutional court judgment on inheritance tax

Spahn pointed out that a judgment of the Federal Constitutional Court on inheritance tax was expected and the coalition would then possibly regulate the tax. It could be that the constitutional court forces the government to reform inheritance tax.

Bavaria has been going to a reform of inheritance tax for a long time – also because real estate prices have risen sharply, but the allowances have not been increased for 15 years. The Bavarian state government therefore filed a lawsuit from the Federal Constitutional Court. This aims at regionalization of inheritance tax – for lower tax rates and higher allowances.

SPD delights about Spahn’s statements

The SPD parliamentary group reacted positively to Spahn’s statements. “We are pleased that Jens Spahn also sees the unequal and massively unjust distribution of wealth in our country as a problem,” said faction vice Wiebke Esdar to the newspapers of the Funke media group. “We will now be on our way together and implement measures that ensure that the rich in this country do not always become richer and the poor are not always poorer,” she added.

The expected constitutional court judgment could be “a good starting point” in order to make the distribution of assets more fair in Germany. The reform of inheritance tax is one of several pillars. It is “not about the inherited house of grandma and also not about the small craft business in the neighboring town”, but about “that the richest of the rich make a fairer contribution to the community in this country”. The SPD demands higher taxes for wealthy, which the Union has so far rejected.

Greens offer Spahn cooperation on the topic

The Greens reacted similarly. “Now the CDU parliamentary group, Jens Spahn, speaks publicly that the inequality of assets in Germany is a problem and that inheritance tax has to be reformed,” said co-parliamentary group leader Katharina Dröge in Berlin. “Should the intention to act and to do the inheritance tax more fairly behind it would be a gratifying U -turn of the CDU,” she emphasized. Because the current policy of the federal government tightens inequality in the country.

Spahn had to let his words follow his words, Dröge warned. The Greens offer cooperation here. “Together we can quickly reform the inheritance tax and make them fairer,” she emphasized.

The CEO of the Social Association of Germany, Michaela Engelmeier, was “surprised at the clarity with which Jens Spahn names the growing property in Germany as a problem.” “And he is right,” she added. Against this background, she criticized debates about cuts in social. On the other hand, good wages, a poverty -resistant minimum wage, an educational offensive and targeted investments in the social area are necessary.

The President of the VdK Social Association, Verena Bentele, confirmed that people with low incomes had to be given the opportunity to build up assets. That is more than overdue. Because today the reality is: if you have little, you often stay left behind. “It is a gratifying change that even representatives from the political center like Jens Spahn openly recognize that the distribution of assets in Germany is a problem.”