Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil called on the traffic light coalition partner FDP to negotiate changes on the subject with his SPD. A reform would make perfect sense from a labor market perspective, Heil told the Rheinische Post, according to the preliminary report on Tuesday. “In order to secure skilled workers, we need better female labor force participation. Many women are very well educated, but only work part-time – and not only because they look after children and family, but also because overtime is not worth it for tax reasons.” In addition to expanding childcare, better tax conditions would be helpful . “That’s why we should talk calmly about modernizing tax law in the coalition.”
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The FDP does not want to let this sit and argues that the abolition would be tantamount to a tax increase for married couples and life partners – and the traffic light coalition has ruled out tax increases. “The SPD would be well advised to let the political riot be good now,” said deputy parliamentary group leader Christoph Meyer of the German Press Agency. Moderation is the order of the day. The coalition agreement is clear on spouse splitting, and there will be no tax increases.