| 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.
Südwestrundfunk, shortened to SWR, is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany, specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices in three cities: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is a part of the ARD consortium.
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.
The Roter Frontkämpferbund, usually called the Rotfrontkämpferbund (RFB), was a far-left paramilitary organization affiliated with the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) during the Weimar Republic. A legally registered association, The RFB was banned in 1929 after violent clashes during May Day demonstrations in Berlin, but continued its work illegally.
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.
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.
TÜVs are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages. The TÜV companies are organized into three large holding companies, TÜV Nord, TÜV Rheinland and TÜV SÜD, along with the smaller independent companies TÜV Thüringen, TÜV Saarland and TÜV Austria.
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.
Taxes in Germany are levied at various government levels: the federal government, the 16 states (Länder), and numerous municipalities (Städte/Gemeinden). The structured tax system has evolved significantly, since the reunification of Germany in 1990 and the integration within the European Union, which has influenced tax policies. Today, income tax and Value-Added Tax (VAT) are the primary sources of tax revenue. These taxes reflect Germany's commitment to a balanced approach between direct and indirect taxation, essential for funding extensive social welfare programs and public infrastructure. The modern German tax system accentuate on fairness and efficiency, adapting to global economic trends and domestic fiscal needs.
The Eisbach, locally known as die Eis, is a 38-kilometre (24 mi) long river and left or western tributary of the Rhine in the northeastern Palatinate and southeastern Rhenish Hesse, in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Rainer Kussmaul was a German Grammy Award-winning violinist and conductor. Kussmaul was born in Mannheim and studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart. He was professor in Freiburg, first concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic and led the Berliner Barocksolisten. He died in Freiburg at age 70.
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.
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 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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