Donate money to the tax authorities? The vast majority of German millionaires lack the motivation for this.
(Photo: imago images / Michael Gstettenbauer)
Berlin Wealthy people in Germany like to say they want to pay higher taxes. This year, for example, the “taxmenow” initiative was founded by 40 millionaires who are demanding the reintroduction of wealth tax, higher inheritance taxes and higher capital taxes.
But none of that came after the general election. The rich would still have the opportunity to let the general public participate more in their private wealth. A so-called federal debt repayment account has existed since 2006.
Citizens can then voluntarily transfer money to the state, which the federal government uses to reduce debt. In 2021, when the state has to run record debts due to the corona crisis, the tax authorities could have used the money.
However: This year only 63,407.16 euros were received on the account. The Federal Ministry of Finance announced this to the Handelsblatt. That was about as much as in previous years.
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Since the account was set up 15 years ago at the alleged “popular request”, just 1.33 million euros have been recorded. For comparison: the taxpayers push the same amount in less than two minutes to the tax authorities, which collects 800 billion euros a year.
Hardly a wealthy person uses the opportunity to give more money to the general public. Why actually?
No advertising for the account
One reason is certainly that the Treasury does not advertise its own debt settlement account. The reason: The tax authorities do not want to compete with non-profit organizations or associations. “The state does not depend on donations to finance the federal budget, and it should not convey this impression by actively promoting donations,” it says.
Or maybe it’s because the state doesn’t treat its donors with care. Because whoever pays in, does not receive anything in return. No thank you, no receipt and therefore no tax deductibility.
“If the cost of thank-you letters or other rewards and the resulting administrative expenses would have to be covered,” it says in a letter from the ministry to the FDP parliamentary group, “the intended debt repayment would only be partially achieved.”
But the real reasons may be elsewhere. Because the Germans are actually quite willing to spend. The annual donation volume is around five billion euros. According to an estimate by the Association of German Foundations, around 68 billion euros are invested in charitable foundations.
Obviously, the citizens don’t just want to withdraw money from the state, they want to know what the donation will be used for. This is clearly defined in the debt repayment account – for debt reduction – but donations are certainly more fun if you know that the money will be used to alleviate hunger or poverty.
Simply transferring money anonymously to a federal account doesn’t really make sense. Maybe not at a time when the federal government can get into debt for free anyway.
However, politicians and economists also believe that economic reasons play a role. The FDP politician Markus Herbrand once described the fact that wealthy people assert that they want to pay higher taxes as “surfing the left zeitgeist”, with which one adorns oneself in public – in the certainty that in the end a wealth tax will never come.
More: “Oh, that’s not a lot” – why this millionaire is wondering about his tax return