BERLIN: Germany has the second-highest tax burden for single earners among high-income countries, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said on Thursday.
The news has come amid a large budget surplus in Germany and no plans under the new coalition government to drastically change personal income taxes.
Democrats, which formed a new government in March, have not planned major changes to Germany’s income taxes. The biggest shake-up in their coalition agreement was the staged reduction of the “Solidarity Tax” used to help the former East Germany rebuild its economy after reunification.
In 2017, Germany posted a budget surplus of €36.6 billion ($44.9 billion) amid strong economic growth and record low unemployment.
The chairman of the German Council of Economic Experts, Christoph Schmidt, has called on the German government to take advantage of the country’s budget surplus to cut taxes rather than increase spending.
