Ulm model
The Ulm model is a tax model for realizing an unconditional basic income .
background
The Ulm model was developed in 1996 at the University of Ulm under the direction of Helmut Pelzer at the Center for General Scientific Further Education and represents a revenue-neutral basic security for all citizens .
This is done according to the following procedure:
- All gross incomes are charged with a fixed percentage tax rate (tax liability).
- Every citizen receives the same payment amount (basic income).
- Tax liability and basic income are offset against each other. If the tax liability is higher, the amount is to be paid as tax, otherwise the amount is paid out as a state subsidy to income. (The latter is also known as negative income tax .)
A fixed percentage of the per capita income , which is calculated on the basis of all gross earnings of the economy , is agreed for the amount of the citizens' allowance . The Ulm working group was formed with the support of the city and a budget of 30,000 DM from the Ulm community foundation. A study was carried out with the funds, in which the effects of a basic income on the total costs of social benefits in the area of the social welfare office of the city of Ulm were examined. The study was published in December 2000.
One result: “If one assumes that the social welfare recipients should not receive less money after the introduction of the Bürgergeld than before, then the expenditures of the city of Ulm for social welfare including flat-rate housing benefit and child benefit would have been only a fraction of the expenditures of 1997. With a citizen's allowance of 1,000 DM per month for adults and 500 DM for children, it would have been 8 percent, with 1,000 DM and 250 DM about 14 percent. "
In a further study by Helmut Pelzer and Ute Fischer in 2004, the robustness and flexibility for practical implementation was demonstrated using a further developed model.
At the turn of 2005/2006, the “transfer limit model” was updated with specially prepared euro figures from the Federal Statistical Office from 2003. The generally accessible calculation table on the website of the Working Group on the Ulm Model has been updated. With just three input parameters, the model can be checked for a “citizen's benefit” or “basic income”:
- Amount of a basic income
- Percentage of a compensation levy on income up to a transfer limit
- "Sum A" (additional) savings opportunities, further financing elements
As a result, the table shows the percentage of a necessary solidarity tax on every income above the transfer limit.
In 2006, members of the working group worked out concrete proposals to prove the feasibility of a basic income using examples of “salary statements” from € 750 to € 10,000 per month.
These examples were taken up by Thuringia's Prime Minister Dieter Althaus and adopted almost 1: 1 in the 2004 version of his “ Solidarisches Bürgergeld ”. Only in the case of health insurance does he assume € 200 per month; in their examples, the AG had expected € 120.
functionality
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In contrast to a linear negative income tax with a single fixed tax rate ( flat tax ), with the transfer limit model, income is taxed at a lower percentage from the transfer limit, so that above the transfer limit the net salary is higher than with the negative income tax. Up to the transfer limit it is a negative income tax : The person is a beneficiary. Above the transfer limit, the person becomes a net payer, with the payments being used to finance the benefits to recipients. The payments (above the transfer limit) are lower than with the negative income tax, which explains the difference to this. |
criticism
Although Helmut Pelzer stands for the transfer limit model he has developed, he has the following concerns:
“Our model thus shows that a UBI can be financed in principle on the basis of the status quo, but it does not allow an exact forecast for the future after its introduction.
Another question is the uncertainty for the future after the introduction of the UBI, which remains even if precise data is available from the time before its introduction. The introduction of a UBI will change the basis of the calculations and have an impact on the distribution of income as well as on the salary and price level. "
Werner Rätz, member of the Basic Income Network , sees a danger that, at the current state of the discourse (2006), every financing model would be harmful to the UBI idea because it is not yet foreseeable what influence the respective financing model will have on society and to what extent a certain one Model is suitable for the realization of a certain idea of a future society.
literature
- Alban Knecht: Bürgergeld. Fight poverty without social assistance. Negative income tax, combined wages, community work and RMI as new ways . Haupt, Bern / Stuttgart / Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-258-06487-3
- Joachim Mitschke: Tax and transfer regulations from a single source . 1985
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Link is dead: TG text on citizens' money by Helmut Pelzer ( memento of the original dated August 31, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 98 kB)
- ↑ Essay by Werner Rätz (PDF; 118 kB)
