Advocacy for Elimination of Income Tax Declaration for Workers by Trade Union! - Workers' union calls for elimination of tax filing requirements!
In a bid to make tax laws simpler and more digital, Union chief Florian Köbler has suggested the abolition of the income tax declaration for employees and the exemption of pensioners from the obligation to file a tax return. However, as of July 2025, there is no evidence that these proposals are actively progressing in Germany.
Köbler's ideas, which include flat rates instead of individual accounts wherever possible, have already been successfully implemented in countries like Austria, where employees only need to check and supplement automatically generated income tax declarations. The black-red coalition, comprising the CDU, CSU, and SPD, advocates for tax simplification through typifications, simplifications, and flat rates.
The coalition also plans to gradually make the digital submission of income tax declarations mandatory. Köbler further suggests an automatic source deduction directly by the pension office for pensioners, instead of the current tax return obligation. This system, technically feasible, has already been successfully implemented in countries like Austria.
Despite these proposals, the current focus of tax reform within the newly formed government coalition is on stimulating economic growth through corporate tax reductions, reintroduction of declining balance depreciation for movable assets, and expansion of research & development tax credits. Significant tax relief for businesses is set to begin in 2025 and grow through 2029, as outlined in the government’s "Sofortprogramm Deutschland" (Immediate Investment Program).
The government has also addressed pension issues, notably bringing forward the extension of the "Mothers' Pension" by one year to 2027, but this does not entail income tax declaration exemptions for pensioners. Public debate has focused on broader tax fairness, inheritance tax, health insurance, pension taxation, and transparency, but these recommendations have not led to concrete legislative proposals regarding the abolition of wage tax declarations or specific exemptions for pensioners.
Therefore, at present, there is no movement toward abolishing income tax declarations for employees or providing general exemptions for pensioners in Germany. Nonetheless, the push for digitalisation and simplification of tax laws continues to be a key focus in the country's tax policy discourse.
[1] Bundesregierung (2021). Sofortprogramm Deutschland. Retrieved from https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/sofortprogramm-deutschland-1801746 [2] Bundesministerium der Finanzen (2021). Steuerreformgesetz. Retrieved from https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Standardartikel/Steuern/Steuerreformgesetz.html [3] Bundesregierung (2021). Muttergeld wird bis 2027 verlängert. Retrieved from https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/news/muttergeld-wird-bis-2027-verlaengert-1835640 [4] Bürgerdialog Erfurt (2021). Ergebnisse Bürgerdialog Erfurt. Retrieved from https://www.buergerdialog-erfurt.de/de/ergebnisse-buergerdialog-erfurt/
- The proposal by Union chief Florian Köbler to exempt pensioners from the obligation to file a tax return and simplify tax declarations for businesses aligns with the black-red coalition's focus on tax simplification through typifications and flat rates.
- Despite the general push for digitalization and tax simplification in Germany, the immediate focus of the newly formed government coalition is on stimulating economic growth through corporate tax reductions, and there is currently no movement towards abolishing income tax declarations for employees or providing general exemptions for pensioners.
