BERLIN: The German Finance Ministry has announced that total tax revenue, excluding local government taxes, rose by 4.6 percent in 2015, thanks to Germany’s strong economy.
The Ministry said on January 29 that rising wages, employment growth, and higher profitability had a positive impact on individual and corporate income tax and value-added tax revenues.
Taxes collected in the month of December were up 1.8 percent year-on-year, with a strong increase in VAT revenues (up 7.3 percent) and personal income tax (up 5.2 percent).
The Ministry’s statement confirmed preliminary fiscal results announced earlier in January showing that the German Government achieved a budget surplus of EUR12.1bn (USD13.1bn) in 2015.
The Ministry also reiterated that the surplus would be transferred into a reserve fund to defray the costs associated with accommodating asylum-seekers and refugees in 2016 and subsequent years.
Last year, Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled out the need for higher or new taxes to cover these costs because of Germany’s strong budgetary position. However, last month, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble suggested that a surtax should be placed on fuel across the EU to generate bloc-wide funds.
