BERLIN: German lawmakers on Thursday passed a multi-billion-euro package of fiscal relief measures to support companies and boost investment, part of the new government’s plans to put Europe’s largest economy back on track for growth after two years of decline.
The package, dubbed by the government as an “investment booster”, contains corporate tax breaks amounting to almost 46 billion euros ($54 billion) from this year through to 2029, creating a gap in state coffers that prompted pushback from state governments.
The bill was passed in the Bundestag lower house with support from the conservatives and Social Democrats, which make up the coalition government.
The measures seek to reduce companies’ tax bills with favourable depreciation options for investments of up to 30% and for electric car purchases of as much as 75%.
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The package also promises a one-percentage-point cut to the corporate tax rate each year over five years from 2028, bringing it down to 10% by 2032.
The package still has to be passed by the Bundesrat upper house, expected on July 11.
In order to win the support of the federal states, whose support is key in the upper house, the government has pledged to cover a large part of the resulting losses in tax revenue.
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