Huge coalition talks: Does the Austrian tax burden get higher?

Huge coalition talks: Does the Austrian tax burden get higher?

In the middle of intensive coalition negotiations, the parties ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS work on a new government in Austria. For two weeks now, around 300 participants have been discussing central political questions in various themed clusters. Especially in the area of "security, migration and integration" there are already significant progress, such as "https://www.heute.at/s/neue--regierung-woevp-spoe-und-neos-schon-einig-sind-120077086" today . It is planned to make integration measures binding for immigrants in order to promote faster integration into the labor market and thus expand the taxpayer base. A schedule is also to be created in the health sector in order to reduce long waiting times.

Despite these agreements, there are violent clashes in tax and financial policy. The ÖVP favors savings at the state budget, while the SPÖ pleads for new tax increases. According to OE24 this could lead to an increase in property tax and a return to the higher corporation tax that would affect companies that would affect companies. This is viewed critically by the economy, while municipalities come under pressure through financial bottlenecks. The future tax resolution could also include an indirect tax increase for higher earnings, since fewer repayments from the cold progression are promised.

developments and next steps

The negotiators are determined to make an agreement quickly to bring the budget to a sustainable course and to ensure central future projects. A meeting of the party leader Karl Nehammer (ÖVP), Andreas Babler (SPÖ) and Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) is coming up for next week. An interim report of the subgroups is expected on December 12th. Although some progress has been made, it remains to be seen whether the coalition can reach an agreement by Christmas, which is considered rather unlikely; Nehammer emphasized the need for time for a good government program.