| Established | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Founded at | Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany |
| Type | Organisation |
| Legal status | Eingetragener Verein (e. V.) |
| Focus |
|
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
Official language | German |
President | Reiner Holznagel |
The German Taxpayers Federation (German : Bund der Steuerzahler e. V. (BdSt)) is a right-wing association. The BdSt is one of the most traditional lobbying organizations in German federal politics.
BdSt was established in 1949 by Karl Bräuer. It is known for striking actions such as the “National Debt Clock” installed in Berlin’s government district and the “Taxpayers Memorial Day”. [1]
BdSt aims to low taxation and public spending for public service, as well as the reduction of bureaucracy and public debt. Political demands include minimal government and low tax rates for corporations, shareholders and wealthy tax payers.
The BdSt presents itself as a representative of the citizens, but is in fact not a representative image of the tax-paying population in Germany: Around 60% of its members are entrepreneurs and companies, another 15% are freelancers. [2] [3]
The BdSt sued against the federal solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag). In 2021, only top earners (corporations and shareholders) will pay this. The full rate of 5.5 percent applies to corporate profits of corporations, to share profits and to income from around €110,000 gross. 90 percent of income tax payers in Germany no longer pay the Solidaritätszuschlag at all. [4]
For many years, the BdSt has cooperated closely with Hamburg-Mannheimer insurance company (Ergo group) in the area of member recruitment. At Hamburg-Mannheimer there are representatives who are exclusively responsible for recruiting members for BdSt and at the same time use this to recruit new customers for the insurance company. [5] [2]
The chairman of the BdSt Reiner Holznagel was a public relations officer for the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania CDU before his involvement with the organization. [6]
AfD politician Kristin Brinker was head of BdSt Berlin from 2012 to 2016 and then founding the Berlin state organization of far-right Alternative for Germany. [7] [8] Rainer Brüderle, FDP politician and former federal minister is president of BdSt Rhineland-Palatinate. [9] Rolf Baron Vielhauer von Hohenhau, CSU politician and manager is president of BdSt Bavaria since 1983. [10]
A legal report concluded in 2023 that the organization itself is not a non-profit organization. BdSt is being incorrect treated this way by the German tax office. The report was commissioned by Campact, which wanted to initiate a new debate about non-profit law. [1]
The journalist Friedrich Küppersbusch argued in 2021: “The Taxpayers' Association is a lobby made up of the Union and the FDP that wants to implement tax cuts for its members, the majority of whom are very wealthy. He works with fake news, with number tricks, with surreptitious advertising and with contempt for the “stupid, stupid state”. [11]
The Federation of Expellees is a non-profit organization formed in West Germany on 27 October 1957 to represent the interests of German nationals of all ethnicities and foreign ethnic Germans and their families who either fled their homes in parts of Central and Eastern Europe, or were forcibly expelled following World War II.
Rhineland-Palatinate is a western state of Germany. It covers 19,846 km2 (7,663 sq mi) and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Koblenz, Trier, Kaiserslautern, Worms, and Neuwied. It is bordered by North Rhine-Westphalia, Saarland, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse and by France, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Karl-Hermann Flach was a German journalist of the Frankfurter Rundschau and a politician of the liberal Free Democrats (FDP).
The Scout movement in Germany consists of about 150 different associations and federations with about 260,000 Scouts and Guides.
The University of Koblenz and Landau was a German public university located in Koblenz and Landau, Rhineland-Palatinate, which primarily focused on teacher education.
Rainer Brüderle is a German politician and member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP). He served as Minister of Economics and Transport of Rhineland-Palatinate from 1987–1998. On 28 October 2009, he was appointed Federal Minister for Economics and Technology in the second cabinet of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Following his election in May 2011 as chairman of his party's parliamentary group, Brüderle resigned as Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Technology.
Norheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Rüdesheim, whose seat is in the like-named town. Norheim is a state-recognized tourism community (Fremdenverkehrsort). and a winegrowing village.
The Bund der Pfadfinderinnen und Pfadfinder (BdP) (German Association of Guides and Scouts) is the largest non-denominational, co-educational Scout and Guide association in Germany. Through its membership in the Ring deutscher Pfadfinder*innenverbände, it is part of the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Founded in 1976, the association serves about 30,000 members nationwide.
The Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, abbreviated BMDV, is a cabinet-level ministry of the Federal Republic of Germany. Its main office is located in Berlin, while the majority of its civil servants and employees work in Bonn, the secondary seat.
SV Roßbach/Verscheid is a German association football club based in Roßbach/Wied, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club's greatest success has been to play in the Oberliga Südwest, later the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, for seven seasons from 2007 to 2014.
The Deutsche Freischar – Bund der Wandervögel und Pfadfinder (DF) is a German youth organization. Originating from the merger of several small Wandervogel and Scouting groups, it was one of the largest and most important associations of the Bündische Jugend of the Weimar Republic besides the Deutscher Pfadfinderbund and Reichsschaft Deutscher Pfadfinder.
The Association of Persecutees of the Nazi Regime – Federation of Antifascists (VVN-BdA) is a German political confederation founded in 1947 and based in Berlin. The VVN-BdA, formerly the VVN, emerged from victims' associations in Germany founded by political opponents to Nazism after the Second World War and the end of the Nazi rule in Germany.
Tobias Lindner is a German economist and politician of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen who has been serving as member of the Bundestag since 2011, as a list member for Rhineland-Palatinate. Since December 8, 2021, he has been Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office.
Daniela Kluckert is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Berlin since 2017.
The Fauré Quartet is a German piano quartet, named after Gabriel Fauré. Founded in 1995, they have performed internationally and recorded, including works written for them by composers such as Volker David Kirchner and Toshio Hosokawa.
This is a list of candidates for the 2021 German federal election.
Kristin Brinker is a German politician. A member of the Alternative for Germany (AFD) party, Brinker has been a member of the Berlin House of Representatives since 2016. Brinker has been state chair of the Berlin AfD since March 2021.
The Third Dreyer cabinet was the state government of Rhineland-Palatinate from 18 May 2021 until 10 July 2024. It was sworn in on 18 May after Malu Dreyer was elected as Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate by the members of the Landtag of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was the 25th Cabinet of Rhineland-Palatinate.
The 2023–2024 German farmers' protests are a series of ongoing nationwide protests and road blockages in Germany organized by farmers and agricultural unions since 18 December 2023. The subjects of the protests are the abolition of tax breaks on farmers and the policies of the federal government.
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