81% of Germans View Wealth Distribution as Unfair
81% of Germans say wealth distribution is unjust—will tax reforms follow?
AFP — A full 81% of Germans believe wealth is unfairly distributed in the country, according to a representative survey published Monday. Conducted by Infratest dimap on behalf of public broadcaster WDR, the poll surveyed 2,084 German-speaking residents aged 16 and older across the country in April. Only 15% of respondents said they considered wealth distribution in Germany to be fair.
The findings reveal that majorities of supporters from all parties represented in the Bundestag criticize the distribution of wealth as unjust. The sense of inequity is particularly pronounced in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Thuringia, as well as in the Berlin-Brandenburg region, where 90% of respondents in each area view wealth distribution as unfair.
The WDR survey also shows that a majority of Germans support reinstating a wealth tax and increasing inheritance taxes. Some 64% back the reintroduction of the wealth tax—abolished in 1997—while 29% oppose it.
Support for reviving the wealth tax extends beyond sympathizers of the Left Party (88%), the Greens (87%), and the SPD (84%), with 62% of those aligned with the center-right Union parties also in favor. Among AfD supporters, however, 52% reject the idea, while 42% support it.
A majority (61%) also favor raising taxes on large inheritances, with one-third (32%) opposed. Here, too, supporters of the Greens (88%), the Left Party (85%), the SPD (78%), and the Union (64%) largely back the measure. In contrast, 62% of AfD sympathizers oppose higher inheritance taxes, while 33% support them.
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