Should an “excess profit tax” be introduced that tax companies that have benefited from crises like the Ukraine war more heavily? A large majority of Germans are in favor of it – in contrast to the Federal Minister of Finance.
A large majority of Germans support the introduction of a so-called excess profit tax, which would tax companies that have benefited from crises such as the Ukraine war more heavily. This is the result of a survey by the survey institute Civey* on behalf of the star.
According to this, almost three quarters (72 percent) of German citizens are in favor of introducing an additional tax for crisis-related excess profits, 18 percent are against it and the rest (10 percent) are undecided.
In terms of party preference, supporters of the SPD and the Greens (88 percent each) had the greatest approval, closely followed by the Left Party (87 percent). The least supporters are found in the electorate of the CDU/CSU (61 percent), AfD (59 percent) and FDP (47 percent).
Federal Minister of Finance Lindner against “excess profit tax”
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) recently spoke out against an excess profit tax for the mineral oil industry – despite increasing demands from the coalition partners of the SPD and the Greens. “Tax law knows no under-profits and no over-profits, only profits,” said Lindner in an interview with the star. “These are heavily taxed in Germany in international comparison.” Official figures for the situation in Germany are also due to tax secrecy at the moment not before, Lindner continued: “In the heavily discussed area of mineral oil, the parent companies have their headquarters abroad.”
Green leader Ricarda Lang, who initiated the debate a month ago, had reiterated her demand in the star. “The current price increases, especially in the energy sector, are a significant burden for consumers and also for many medium-sized companies,” she said. While some were wondering how to pay for the next tank of fuel, others made record profits thanks to the crisis. “The excess profit tax would be a logical step,” said Lang.
*The survey institute Civey surveyed between 5,002 and 5,004 adult German citizens online in the period from June 7th to 8th, 2022. The data are representative due to quotations and weightings, taking into account the statistical error of 2.5 percentage points. Further explanations on the methodology can be found here.
