Leading Greens politicians are working on successor models for the 9-euro ticket. In order to be able to finance this, the taxation of company cars is to be abolished. Finance Minister Lindner thinks nothing of it.
Finance Minister Christian Lindner is opposed to the Greens’ proposal to abolish the flat-rate taxation of company cars in order to finance a successor to the 9-euro ticket. “It is already left-wing polemics to describe the flat-rate taxation of a company car as a privilege, because it is above all a tax simplification,” said the FDP politician to the German Press Agency. In his view, the idea of the Greens would force several million citizens to keep a logbook without the bottom line resulting in additional revenue for the state.
Investigations have shown that the flat-rate taxation does not mean a tax advantage, said Lindner. On the other hand, there is a tax subsidy for company vehicles, for example for electric cars. “In my opinion, however, it makes sense because it means that climate-friendly new vehicles can be added to the fleet as company cars, which will soon become good and cheap used cars,” said Lindner.
In a concept paper, leading politicians from the Greens had proposed two tickets as a successor to the 9-euro ticket: a regional ticket for 29 euros and a nationwide ticket for 49 euros a month. Both should continue to apply only to local and regional transport. For financing, the Greens want to curtail the company car privilege, which companies can use to deduct the costs of company cars from taxes. Above all, CO2 emissions should be taken more into account.
