Monika Schnitzer, the chair of the Economic Wise Men, urgently calls for a fundamental reform of the inheritance tax. Company heirs should also pay significantly more in the future. She rejects an end to all corona measures because there would be negative consequences for the economy.
The chairwoman of the Economic Wise Men, Monika Schnitzer, is pushing for a fundamental reform of the inheritance tax. A comprehensive new regulation is “indicated”, said Schnitzer the “Münchner Merkur” (Wednesday edition). Anyone who does not inherit a house has to “earn very, very well in conurbations such as Munich, Frankfurt or Hamburg in order to even have the chance of owning a home”. On the other hand, home heirs would have “much better chances of starting out”, even if they had to pay inheritance tax.
In the event of a new regulation, company heirs would also have to be asked to pay more in the future, the economist demanded. The tax burden on the inheritance of a company is currently “comparatively low”. On the other hand, “proper inheritance tax” is due on the inheritance of financial investments, a vintage car collection or art. This unequal treatment is “not really plausible”, Schnitzer complained.
She also addressed the often-raised objection to higher taxation of company heirs, according to which a large part of the assets are tied up in the companies and cannot be removed without endangering the company’s existence. One “could work very well here with deferrals, in which the inheritance tax incurred would be divided up and paid off over several years”.
Such an adjustment is “comparatively easy to implement and fairer than the existing regulation,” said the chairwoman of the German Council of Economic Experts.
In the debate about an end to the corona pandemic, Schnitzer warns against lifting all protective measures. “The corona restrictions that still exist, such as the obligation to wear masks in local and long-distance public transport, do not restrict economic activity, but they do reduce the number of infections, not only from Covid infections, but also from respiratory diseases in particular,” she told the Funke newspapers -media group.
The sickness rate is currently above average. Lifting the corona restrictions could further increase sick leave, “which would have a negative impact on the economy”.
After statements by experts that the corona pandemic was gradually turning into an endemic situation, Federal Minister of Justice Marco Buschmann (FDP) proposed on Tuesday, according to a newspaper report, that the nationwide protective measures be overridden.
The current version of the Infection Protection Act applies until April 7th. As a nationwide measure, it primarily provides for a mask requirement in long-distance bus and train travel and in health facilities. Other measures are at the discretion of the federal states.
