Hamburg collects less taxes than previously planned | > – News

Status: 05/23/2023 2:35 p.m

Hamburg will take less taxes in the coming years than was thought in the fall. This emerges from the May tax estimate, which Finance Senator Andreas Dressel (SPD) presented on Tuesday in the town hall.

This year the signs are still good, among other things due to the Billions in dividends from the shipping company Hapag-Lloyd Hamburg can earn around 124 million euros more – compared to the last tax estimate in November last year.

231 million euros less taxes by 2027

From next year, Finance Senator Dressel will have to make do with significantly less money than originally planned. The estimate for the years 2023 to 2027 is around 231 million euros lower than expected. Dressel said that was an order of magnitude “that it will now be difficult to manage in the coming years”.

Dressel sees responsibility at the federal level

Dressel sees the responsibility for this primarily with the federal government. For example, this would not fully relieve the federal states of the additional refugee costs. According to Dressel, a key factor is also the consequences of the Inflation Compensation Act, which was not yet taken into account in the November 2022 estimate. A thorn in Dressel’s side is that the threshold for the top income tax rate of 42 percent will be raised twice noticeably. This should also significantly relieve the burden on top earners in view of the high inflation.

Hamburg’s finance senator said: “In the current situation, as far as finances are concerned, we can’t afford that. It’s not necessary.” Dressel announced that the topic would be put on the table again at the upcoming finance ministers’ conference of the federal states. A budget freeze, such as that imposed by Schleswig-Holstein, is currently not in sight in Hamburg.