Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher has demanded a fundamental rethink of Germany's fiscal policy, criticizing the coalition government's tax agenda as heading toward a dead end.
Tschentscher opposes the planned gradual reduction of the corporate tax rate from 15 to 10 percent by 2032, warning it would severely strain federal, state, and municipal budgets while raising false hopes of an economic boost. Instead, he has proposed redirecting corporate tax revenue into the statutory health insurance system to offset non-insurance-related expenditures. He also called the introduction of a digital services tax on major technology companies long overdue, noting that France, Austria, and Italy already levy taxes on large tech firms' revenues, particularly from online advertising.
Tschentscher further faulted the government for drafting a 2027 budget with exceptionally high borrowing and urged that special investment funds include a revenue component.