Under the guise of fairness regarding the sale of shares and other capital investments, the Greens in the Bundestag have introduced a bill that will allow the tax office to access every real estate sale in the future (Bundestagsdrucksache 21/6637).
For the FDP Saar, this is another indication that behind the green façade lies an attitude that shows no respect for private achievement. So far, the legal situation is such that a small number of properties can be sold tax-free after a holding period of ten years or if they were owner-occupied. The regulation serves to prevent rapid speculation with land. A real estate sales tax therefore does not affect the ordinary homeowner or owner of a condominium intended for their retirement savings. The Greens now want to use every property sale to feed the state's tax leviathan even more. This is also to hold accountable the owners who have thus provided for their retirement and, for example, want or need to change their place of residence.
Angelika Hießerich-Peter, the chairwoman of the FDP Saar, can only shake her head at this idea. "Under the pretext of wanting to siphon off the profits of large real estate companies, the Greens are incidentally fleecing owners of individual properties. Commercial real estate trading is already regularly taxed and excluded from all exemptions. This plan shows that the urban-centric Greens have no understanding of everyday life. In Saarland alone, with its very high rate of homeownership, the number of potential taxpayers would skyrocket!” Just one example of the absurd excesses of this green idea: anyone who wants to sell their home in old age, to downsize or facilitate moving into a retirement home, would first have to hand over money to the tax office according to the Greens' plans. Even if it is the proverbial “grandma’s house”! A clear proof that the Greens are not willing to recognize individual or family achievements.
The FDP Saar can only strongly warn against this nonsensical legislative project of the Greens.
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