Wealth Tax: Fair Taxation and Additional Tax Income or a Burden for Germany as a Business Location?

Can the currently debated introduction of a wealth tax lead to fairer taxation or will it merely burden Germany as a business location? In the opinion of Wolfgang Scherf, University of Gießen, the wealth tax is unfair, inefficient and superfluous. For Christian Waldhoff, Humboldt-University of Berlin, there are economic, political and administrative reasons against introducing a wealth tax. Christoph Spengel and Frank Streif, University of Mannheim, also advise against reviving the idea of a wealth tax. Andreas Richter, Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Stuttgart region, and Lutz Goebel, ASU, warn of tax increases. Nils Schmid, State Minister of Economics and Finances for Baden-Württemberg, on the other hand, views the reintroduction of a wealth tax as a strong basis for growing the tax base. In his opinion, it is crucial that individuals with very sizeable private fortunes pay a fair additional financial contribution to the community. Any excessive burden, however, should be avoided and business assets should clearly be spared from taxation. Sebastian Eichfelder, Claudia Neugebauer and Kerstin Schneider, University of Wuppertal, fear that a wealth tax may weaken the earning power of German companies and counteract the tax relief measures of recent years.