It has not yet been decided whether the Greens and Olaf Scholz will put obstacles in the way of start-ups.
(Photo: IMAGO/Westend61)
Many concerns have long been mixed with the euphoria about the rise of the German start-up scene. One of the focal points was and is the reform of employee participation. It corresponds to a requirement of young companies in order to be able to keep up with international competition. If you want to bring top talent to Germany, you can use anything, just not rigid taxation.
The initiative by Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner to provide tax relief for start-up companies follows a simple truth: Earning comes before distribution. This has been forgotten in politics for many years in view of the full coffers.
But if tomorrow’s prosperity is to be created somewhere, then in young, disruptive companies, which at best will produce unicorns, i.e. companies with a valuation of over one billion US dollars.
But you only have to look at a few developments to see how digital Germany is really doing. A record year for the industry like 2021 is not in sight. The war in Europe, high inflation and the global economic weakness ensure that venture capitalists are also acting more cautiously. Investors think twice about which business model to invest their money in.
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It has not yet been decided whether the Greens and Olaf Scholz will put obstacles in the way of start-ups. The current chancellor, in particular, liked to point out during his time as federal finance minister that there was always a risk of abuse associated with employee shareholdings.
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There was talk of dumping wages combined with the vague prospect of profits. Scholz also did not like the extra tax sausage for the young companies. At some point, every company will be a normal company and no longer a start-up company. This applies above all to rules according to which taxes on company investments are only due after 20 years.
But the Chancellor and the Greens should see the opportunities above all. A look at the current Handelsblatt ranking of the world’s 100 largest companies by market value is enough to make you rethink. At the end of the year, 62 of the top 100 companies were US companies.
With SAP in 91st place, Germany has only one company among the top 100 for the first time. Siemens did not make it into the ranking. If that’s not enough, you can go one size smaller. In 2022, the proportion of the self-employed in the workforce in Germany once again reached a low. If the government wants to help young entrepreneurs, it should do it now.
More: This is how the German start-up elite involves their employees