The 500 billion-euro special fund for infrastructure and defense, approved by the German Federal Parliament (Bundestag), has reignited the debate over the national budget. What we, as a community, can and want to afford, and above all, who will pay for it, should not be negotiated solely within expert circles. After all, taxes are paid by everyone. To involve citizens more directly, Mehr Demokratie e.V., Bund der Steuerzahler and Netzwerk Steuergerechtigkeit are now launching a participation project – granted by the Schöpflin Foundation and the Robert Bosch Foundation. In the public debate »Fair Taxes and Finance«, proposals will be developed on how Germany’s finances can be made solid, fair, and more transparent in the long term.
The first phase of the project consists of an online participation process: From today until early May, everyone can contribute ideas on what should be changed in our tax and finance system at »steuerdebatte.make.org«. The platform also allows existing proposals from associations, politics, and other individuals to be evaluated. Afterward, the key findings from the online participation will be summarized and processed by sociologists and data scientists.
»With the public debate, we want to bring the topic of taxes and finance into the heart of society and make it open for discussion.«
Roman Huber, Executive Director of the non-profit organization Mehr Demokratie.
The proposed changes will be incorporated into two public debates with 40 randomly selected participants, which will take place in Erfurt in early summer. They will discuss for a total of six days under the guiding question »Who should pay for all this?« and design a national budget according to their ideas.
Anyone who wants to participate in the online engagement can do so at »steuerdebatte.make.org«.