Germans support higher taxes for the common good

We all know that Germans have higher taxes than Americans, but I didn’t know that some of them want more taxes.  (That move goes against the zeitgeist there right now.)  The BBC is reporting that “the group” (they aren’t given a name, which is a weird omission) has submitted a petition to the German government.  They are asking for a 5% wealth tax for 2 years on the richest Germans, and they claim that such a tax would raise 100 billion euros (about $150 billion) over that time.  It’s taboo to say that it’s not taboo to raise taxes in an economic crisis, but this now makes a trend of rich people asking to be taxed more.

It is weird though that the BBC doesn’t give the name of these people; most of the English press seems to refer back to their article, so ti gives the impression a very discombobulated group.  The Agence France-Presse has a much better article and a link to the petitioners’ site.  You have to know German though.

The BBC article is short, so I’ve put the text after the jump.

A group of rich Germans has launched a petition calling for the government to make wealthy people pay higher taxes.

The group say they have more money than they need, and the extra revenue could fund economic and social programmes to aid Germany’s economic recovery.

Germany could raise 100bn euros (£91bn) if the richest people paid a 5% wealth tax for two years, they say.

The petition has 44 signatories so far, and will be presented to newly re-elected Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The group say the financial crisis is leading to an increase in unemployment, poverty and social inequality.

Simply donating money to deal with the problems is not enough, they want a change in the whole approach.

“The path out of the crisis must be paved with massive investment in ecology, education and social justice,” they say in the petition.

Those who had “made a fortune through inheritance, hard work, hard-working, successful entrepreneurship, or investment” should contribute by paying more to alleviate the crisis.

The man behind the petition, Dieter Lehmkuhl, told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel that there were 2.2 million people in Germany with a fortune of more than 500,000 euros.

If they all paid the tax for two years, Germany could raise 100bn euros to fund ecological programmes, education and social projects, said the retired doctor and heir to a brewery.

Signatory Peter Vollmer told AFP news agency he was supporting the proposal because he had inherited “a lot of money I do not need”.

He said the tax would be “a viable and socially acceptable way out of the flagrant budget crisis”.

The group held a demonstration in Berlin on Wednesday to draw attention to their plans, throwing fake banknotes into the air.

Mr Vollmer said it was “really strange that so few people came”.