After years of disputes, Germany's center-right coalition agreed to launch tax cuts in the federal election year 2013, as the country saw a robust recovery with higher tax intake, officials said on Monday.
Coalition leaders are still discussing details over the tax cuts and the final proposal is due to be officially approved by Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Wednesday, said Christian Lindner, General Secretary of the Free Democrats (FDP), a small pro-business party in the ruling coalition along with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).
The tax cuts are reportedly aimed at low and middle income earners and to be taken into force before the 2013 federal elections, when the current coalition will face tough challenges from opposition parties. However, the very amount of the cuts remained unknown.
"Now we have a timeframe but we will probably set the size in autumn," Lindner told German public television ARD. "We have to see how tax revenues develop before we can determine the amount (of tax cuts)."
The issue of tax cuts has triggered heated discussion within the coalition since 2009 when the FDP campaigned for such a move. However, some leaders of the CDU rebuffed the proposal, arguing that the government could not afford major cuts as it viewed debt-reduction mission as top priority.
Officials said that Germany's solid recovery since early 2010 left much larger room for tax-cut advocators, as the country would obtain adequate resources and revenues to conduct the tax cuts and slash the deficit at the same time.
Withstanding challenges of eurozone debt crisis, inflation pressure and soaring oil prices, the German economy registered a stunning 3.6 percent growth in 2010. The German government expected a 2.6-percent increase this year.
Editor: Mu Xuequan
English.news.cn 2011-07-05 05:44:37 FeedbackPrintRSS
BERLIN, July 4 (Xinhua)
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