In advance, the ÖVP provided the APA with excerpts from the paper, namely from the chapters “Performance” and “Economy”. It talks about a tax cut “for the working middle” and a path to reducing non-wage labor costs by 2030. Nehammer therefore envisions a “program for the five million,” which means the number of people in Austria who “finance our entire system with their tax payments.” They should be left with more of their income and pensions. The ÖVP therefore wants to reduce the input tax rate from 20 to 15 percent.
“We need more taxpayers who pay less taxes”
“We need more taxpayers who pay less taxes,” is the creed of the People’s Party leader. Nehammer also wants to make it easier for those who do not work full-time because they have taken on care or childcare tasks.
The ÖVP would also like to see a reform of the tax system. It wants to implement a path to reduce non-wage labor costs by 0.5 percentage points annually by 2030. This is to be achieved by reducing contributions to unemployment insurance (the financing of unemployment benefits should be restructured from the ÖVP perspective) and by transferring part of the employer-financed contributions to the family burden equalization fund (FLAF) into the federal budget.
“Regime change in Austria’s economic policy”
In the “Economy” chapter – here the ÖVP is currently only talking about a “rough draft” – Nehammer would like to see a “regime change in Austria’s economic policy”. It is necessary to turn away from the interventionism and statism of the last four years of crisis and thus a return to the social market economy. According to reports, the aim is to reduce subsidies and instead rely on guarantees and incentives.
Nehammer kicked off the Austria planning with a “speech on the future of the nation” in March 2023. At that time, he focused on climate protection, which was primarily interpreted as a declaration of war on his coalition partner, the Greens. Among other things, the ÖVP boss opposed an end to combustion engines and described Austria as the “car country par excellence”.
Property offensive by dedicating housing subsidies
Nehammer countered the “doomsday madness” of the “climate glue” with his belief in technology and progress, defended the Austrian Schengen veto against Bulgaria and Romania and held out the prospect of a five-year halving of social assistance for newcomers to the country. “My goal is for all Austrians to belong to the propertied class,” he also said and promised an ownership offensive by dedicating housing subsidies.
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