Growth Acceleration Act

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Basic data
Title: Law to Accelerate Economic Growth
Short title: Growth Acceleration Act
Type: Federal law
Scope: Federal Republic of Germany
Issued on the basis of: Art. 105 para. 2 GG
Legal matter: Tax law
Issued on: December 22, 2009
( BGBl. I p. 3950 )
Entry into force on: Ex. December 31, 2009,
January 1, 2010
GESTA : D001
Weblink: Text of the law
Please note the note on the applicable legal version.

The Act to Accelerate Economic Growth ( Growth Acceleration Act ), also called the Mövenpick Act by the press with reference to the aspect of reducing sales tax for the hotel industry , was passed by the German Bundestag in December 2009 . Immediate tax measures previously agreed in the coalition agreement were implemented with him . This was the third economic stimulus package that German federal governments launched within a year to counter the economic crisis that began in 2007 .

Reasons for the law

According to the explanatory memorandum of the government fractions , the law refers to the "consequences of the worst financial and economic crisis since the Federal Republic of Germany" (see the financial crisis from 2007 ). According to this justification, the slump in economic growth should be overcome as quickly as possible through a tax policy “as a growth policy”. "Targeted tax relief" should serve this purpose. Another goal is the expansion of renewable energies and planning security for certain systems.

Content of the law

Cornerstones of the law:

  • The tax exemptions for each child will be increased from a total of 6,024 euros to a total of 7,008 euros by increasing the tax exemption for the actual subsistence level (child allowance) by 504 euros to 4,368 euros and the exemption for care and upbringing or training needs by 480 euros to 2,640 euros is increased. At the same time, the child benefit increases by 20 euros, so that the families now receive 184 euros per month for the first and second child, 190 euros for the third child and 215 euros each for each additional child. All in all, families with children are relieved of the burden of 4.6 billion euros a year.
  • In terms of inheritance tax , siblings and siblings are better off. The tax rate for this group of people drops from 30 to 50 percent to 15 to 43 percent. According to calculations by the federal government, the beneficiaries can keep 370 million euros more from the inheritance each year. Company heirs also have to pay less tax. The minimum wage that a company must comply with in order to receive the exemption discount will be reduced from 650 to 400 percent. The decisive factor here is only a period of five instead of the previous seven years. Likewise, the period in which the heir has to keep the business so that the exemption discount does not cease to apply is shortened from seven to five years. The exemption discount applies regardless of the wage bill for all companies with up to twenty employees, instead of the previous ten employees.
  • For the operators of hotels, inns, guest houses and campsites, the fee for short-term overnight stays (excluding breakfast and other non-accommodation services) is now only 7 percent VAT instead of 19 percent .
  • Real estate acquisitions that arise through the restructuring of groups through mergers, divisions or asset transfers are favored with the real estate transfer tax .
  • "Crisis-aggravating elements" of the corporate tax reform will be toned down, so that companies will again have the opportunity to claim a larger amount of tax-reducing losses. The so-called interest barrier will also be less strict after the law has come into force. This loosens the provisions on the deduction of interest expenses .
  • The law allows flat-rate depreciation over five years for assets up to an amount of EUR 1,000 (pool depreciation).
  • The expansion of renewable energies is supported by increasing the remuneration for the electricity feed-in of the modular systems that were put into operation before January 1, 2009 in accordance with the Renewable Energy Sources Act. At the same time, the promotion of biofuels was not reduced as originally planned.

Of the revenue losses, 4.63 billion euros are attributable to the federal government, 2.28 billion euros to the federal states and 1.57 billion euros to the municipalities.

Legislative process

The from the Federal Ministry of Finance elaborated draft bill has been prepared by 9 November 2009 Cabinet Merkel II approved. However, the bill was not introduced into the German Bundestag by the government itself, but on the same day by the parliamentary groups of the black-yellow government coalition made up of the CDU , CSU and FDP . On November 30, 2009, a public hearing of the Bundestag Finance Committee took place. On December 2, the Finance Committee issued a recommendation for a resolution that contained some clarifications. Two days later, the Bundestag passed the law in the committee version in a roll-call vote. 322 MPs from the governing coalition voted for the law, 246 MPs from the opposition voted against. On December 18, 2009, the Federal Council also approved the law with a majority of votes from the federal states governed by black and yellow . The law was finally promulgated in the Federal Law Gazette Part I No. 81 of December 30, 2009 on pages 3950 to 3956.

Reactions

Hearing the Finance Committee

In the public hearing of the Finance Committee of the German Bundestag on November 30, 2009, the Federation of German Industries (BDI) assessed the Growth Acceleration Act "in its basic trend very positively". The taxpayers' association welcomed the better opportunities for depreciation. The expert Lorenz Jarass criticized that the extensive tax cuts were not financed in spite of the enormous need for consolidation of the public budgets . Instead of taxing large incomes and assets appropriately, there are also reliefs for corporations and sellers of companies; thus the law becomes a "growth prevention law". The Paritätische Wohlfahrtsverband complained that several million children would not or hardly benefit from the law, since the increase in child benefit was offset against unemployment benefit II .

opposition

For the SPD , the MP Nicolette Kressl criticized that the law only serves individual interests and is socially unbalanced. She called the plans to introduce a reduced VAT rate for hotel stays dubious, as the financing provides for new debts and is a heavy burden on the states and municipalities. Gregor Gysi from the party Die Linke criticized the fact that high-earning parents should receive more money for their children in the future, but that a single Hartz IV recipient would not benefit from the law. In this way only a “promotion of the wealthy” is achieved. The Green finance expert Fritz Kuhn certified the law as having "strong elements of arbitrariness, bureaucracy and social injustice".

countries

In some cases, the plans provoked severe criticism in the countries. Schleswig-Holstein in particular initially resisted the law because tax losses in the region of 70 million euros were feared. Prime Minister Peter Harry Carstensen (CDU) demanded compensation for the loss of income threatening his country. At a chimney round with Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) on November 26, 2009, he brought his resignation into play if the opposite should happen. He announced that he would not agree to the Federal Council's growth acceleration law without financial compensation. Also Saxony distanced himself from the law. However, both countries ultimately approved the law. The federal government had previously promised to help the federal states invest in education. The federal states have also been decreed to bear the costs of converting the job centers , which are estimated at 300 million euros.

While Carstensen stated that many other minister-presidents had shown understanding for his concerns, Lower Saxony's minister-president Christian Wulff (CDU) threatened to block the law in the Federal Council before the vote on December 18, 2009, as he considered an isolated individual solution only for Schleswig-Holstein deemed unacceptable. Lower Saxony also finally approved the law.

Criticism of lowering the sales tax for hotels

The lowering of the sales tax for hoteliers also drew massive criticism from CDU circles. The President of the Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, called for greater care in the legislative process and described the sales tax reduction as “unreasonable” in view of the shortfall in income of almost one billion euros per year. The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt , Wolfgang Böhmer , condemned the aid for the catering industry as "pure clientele policy". The chairman of the Federal Association of Consumer Organizations ( vzbv ), Gerd Billen , called on the hotel industry to pass on the "January 1st tax gift to customers on a large scale".

In January 2010 it became known that the Düsseldorf company Substantia AG had transferred donations of 1.1 million euros to the FDP between October 2008 and October 2009. The company belongs to the group of companies of the entrepreneur August von Finck junior , who is also the main shareholder of the Mövenpick restaurant and hotel group . Opposition politicians saw a direct connection between the sales tax cut and the donation of millions. The parliamentary group leader of the Greens, Renate Künast , explained: "On the one hand the value added tax for hotels will be reduced, on the other hand the FDP receives a million donation from the branch". Criticism also came from within the FDP. The Deputy Prime Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia , Andreas Pinkwart , complained about the high bureaucratic effort caused by the new regulation, which provides for different tax rates for overnight stays with or without breakfast. The federal chairman of the FDP, Guido Westerwelle , rejected the allegations. On January 19, 2010, the Greens introduced an urgent motion to the Bundestag, supported by the SPD and the left, with the aim of ending “preferential treatment for the hotel industry” in sales taxation. The application was rejected by a majority of the government factions.

A study published in 2014 provided evidence that many hoteliers were not using the tax cut to cut prices.

Petition for withdrawal

On December 25, 2009, an online petition was submitted to the German Bundestag. The petitioner's aim was for the Federal Government and the Bundestag to withdraw the Growth Acceleration Act or to revise it in key points. The law cannot really promote economic growth, it contains social injustices and leads to irresponsible new borrowing. On June 30, 2011, the German Bundestag discussed the petition and found that the petitioner's request could not be met. A different request from the parliamentary groups of the SPD, the Left and Bündnis90 / Die Grünen, which had as its content to transfer the petition to the federal government and the Federal Ministry of Finance as material and to make it known to the parliamentary groups of the German Bundestag, was made by the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU and the FDP against the votes of the parliamentary groups of SPD, Linke and Bündnis90 / Die Grünen rejected.

Criticism from the Federal President

Horst Köhler , then Federal President and former head of the International Monetary Fund , declared the federal government's tax cut plans to be a " vabanque game ". Even the term Growth Acceleration Act would have given him thought: "As if it were the state that could ensure more and faster growth."

Materials from the legislative process

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mövenpick law does not apply to hourly hotels . In: sueddeutsche.de . 2013, ISSN  0174-4917 ( sueddeutsche.de [accessed September 30, 2017]).
  2. ↑ a b c d draft law of the parliamentary groups of the CDU / CSU and FDP, BT-Drs. 17/15 (PDF) of November 9, 2009, p. 1
  3. ↑ Bavaria's finance minister Fahrenschon does not want to commit to tax reform ( memento of the original from November 25, 2009 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. www.bundestag.de, November 15, 2009 (accessed December 14, 2009) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundestag.de
  4. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 17/15
  5. ↑ Bundestag printed paper 17/131
  6. ↑ Plenary minutes 17/10
  7. ↑ Bundesrat: Resolution of the Bundesrat: Law to Accelerate Economic Growth (Growth Acceleration Act) , BR-Drs. 865/09 (B) (PDF; 98 kB) of December 18, 2009
  8. ↑ Business associations welcome the Growth Acceleration Act ( Memento of the original from December 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. www.bundestag.de, November 30, 2009 (accessed December 13, 2009) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bundestag.de
  9. ↑ The tax package clears the first hurdle www.tagesschau.de, December 4, 2009
  10. ↑ a b Carstensen speaks of resignation Handelsblatt, November 28, 2009
  11. ^ Also Saxony against the Handelsblatt tax package , December 7, 2009
  12. ↑ Black and yellow shifts geld tageszeitung, December 18, 2009
  13. ↑ Wulff threatens to say no to the tax package , Spiegel Online, December 11, 2009.
  14. ↑ Lammert criticizes the black and yellow tax package , Spiegel Online, December 27, 2009.
  15. ↑ Böhmer attacks black and yellow clientele politics , Spiegel Online, January 2, 2010.
  16. ↑ Hotels should lower prices , Münchner Merkur, December 30, 2009.
  17. ↑ FDP vice rages against hotel tax gifts , Spiegel Online, January 30, 2010.
  18. ↑ Entrepreneur donated 1.1 million euros to the FDP , Spiegel Online, January 16, 2010.
  19. ↑ Westerwelle rejects the allegation of buyability , Spiegel Online, January 18, 2010.
  20. ↑ FDP donation divides parliament Focus Online, January 19, 2010
  21. ↑ Tax experts: 7 percent were "a shot in the oven with a link to the study, etc.
  22. ^ Text of the petition bundestag.de (accessed on January 26, 2018)
  23. ↑ Federal President Köhler brings tax increases into play. In: Spiegel online , March 20, 2010 ( online )

Web links