New VAT - a sample without more value - Bautzener Bote

"Out of the crisis with full force". The federal government wants that and this is what Olaf Scholz (SPD) recently announced. As early as mid-March, the Federal Minister of Finance had even verbally used the bazooka (i.e. a kind of anti-tank rifle) to protect the German economy from major corona damage. At the time, Federal Minister of Economics Peter Altmaier (CDU) was at his side as a companion in arms. "We'll see what small arms we need later."

These pithy words were followed at the beginning of June by Olaf Scholz's "Wumms!", which was probably borrowed from a comic speech bubble. With such a one wants to get out of the crisis but definitely. The fact that politicians use such simple language could allow conclusions to be drawn about how unintelligent they think their voters are. Such a "Wumms!" fits perfectly in very large letters on the front page of BILD and Co.

Nevertheless, I prefer to quote William Shakespeare (from "Richard III") here: "Whoever makes words does little. … We need hands and not tongues.” Or it takes money, a lot of money. The government is now taking this into its own hands. The cabinet recently approved an economic stimulus package worth 130 billion euros. You cant complain. Or is it?

The political opposition does. This is also her too often neglected job. Above all, there are doubts as to whether the money really goes where it is needed most. It was "socially questionable", said Dietmar Bartsch (Die Linke) and "economically absurd". For Stefan Brandner (AfD), all of this is “a bungling attempt to somehow calm down the citizens of Germany”. Anton Hofreiter (of the Greens) uses the well-known image of the watering can with which the tax money is distributed.

The main topic of discussion is the reduction in VAT: from 19 to 16 percent for goods and services, from 7 to 5 percent for food. Critics think that the effort (for retailers) is too great and the benefit (for the customers who buy it) is too small. In addition, the government simply jumped too short with the restriction “only until the end of 2020”. Too short to stimulate consumption in the long term.

The mutual backslapping of the ruling coalition in Berlin at this announcement - reinforced by the initially uncritical media - was in any case unmistakable. Accordingly, on July 1, 2020 there will be "the largest tax cut in recent decades".

In early 2007, no one spoke of "the largest tax increase in recent decades". At that time, VAT was raised from 16 to 19 percent! During the 2005 election campaign, the SPD was still blaring: "Merkel tax, that's going to be expensive!". The CDU had brought 18 percent into the conversation. In the coalition with the Social Democrats, who had previously mocked it, it was even 19 percent.

Will customers now use half the year and take advantage of the price advantage offered? Maybe they do. To what extent, however, remains to be seen. When this drastic anti-corona measure was relaxed in May after the forced closure of shops (except for department stores, pharmacies, etc.), the hoped-for rush did not materialize or was only short-lived. It has remained so to this day.

According to experts, it is the unspeakable mask requirement that spoils the mood for consumption. As if access regulations and distance requirements weren't enough for the now greatly weakened pandemic. "The mask has a psychological effect and makes shopping a negative experience," says Kai Hudetz, Managing Director of the Institute for Retail Research (IfH) from Cologne (WELT from June 3). You feel "like in the hospital and not on a shopping tour that's supposed to be fun". In his opinion, the obligation to wear masks could cost stationary retailers massive sales.

One would like to add: Especially since it is summer and therefore warmer. You are already sweating under many of the so-called everyday masks. That's why they are usually only worn casually and casually under the nose. Which means they are nothing more than a useless corona accessory. And Austria is leading the way: since June 15, masks have only been compulsory there in exceptional cases and, for example, no longer when shopping.

Will a lower VAT rate change anything about the acute problems in retail? What is already affecting this (like other industries) are the sometimes considerable costs that arise from this changeover. Which could be gotten over if it wasn't just a temporary measure.

If you want to find all of this uncritically great because the government decided so, please refer to the WELT article linked here "Hard to do for the economy - VAT chaos looming". Incidentally, no one knows whether the potential savings will even reach consumers. This is often suppressed in the studious praises.

In addition, the reduced VAT only pays off for expensive purchases. But who can actually afford larger expenses in the so-called Corona times? In Germany, 2.8 million people were registered as unemployed in May and 7.3 million on short-time work. According to the broadcaster n-tv, the very existence of more than two million Germans is threatened by financial losses. Even if the situation is not so dramatic everywhere, there shouldn't be any big financial leaps for many. Therefore, the conclusion of a representative Civey survey (according to dpa) is not surprising: only one in five plans to spend more!

Urgently needed relaxation of the corona restrictions imposed by the state, which are currently still complicating fruitful coexistence, are still a long time coming. It's as if someone wanted to try out how far this paternalism can be pushed to the point of incapacitation. "Nightingale, I can hear you traipsing!" Says the vernacular, referring to the critically viewed introduction of a corona app and the no less controversial Covid 19 vaccination.

Therefore, the following words by Theodor Herzl (1860 - 1904) are no longer any consolation: "Nothing is as bad as we fear, nothing as good as we hope."

Hans Georg Prause