The Taxpayers' Association is directing its critical eye, among other things, at the emerging future center in Halle and the property on the outskirts of Magdeburg on which the chip manufacturer Intel wanted to build. In the current black book, the taxpayer speaks of excessive costs and a meager concept for the future center. The costs have risen from the originally estimated 200 million euros to an estimated 277 million euros.
For the lobby association, which is looking for cases of tax waste, the question arises as to what concrete benefit the “Future Center” has for local people – while there is a lack of money for schools, hospitals and infrastructure everywhere. The groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation of Riebeckplatz was held in August. The “Future Center for German Unity and European Transformation” is being built there.
The aim is to create a place that brings people together and makes people's experiences of the upheavals since 1989 tangible, Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) explained at the groundbreaking ceremony. The first projects and events are scheduled to take place before the planned completion of the building in 2032. The Taxpayers' Association doubts the visitor forecast of up to a million people a year. There was a risk of hardly quantifiable follow-up costs.
Intel site in Magdeburg
The taxpayers' association also criticizes the property deals around the site where the US chip manufacturer Intel originally wanted to invest billions near Magdeburg. Since the final end of the plans in July 2025, the focus has been on repairing and limiting damage. When selling the land, the city of Magdeburg "contrary to usual standards did not agree on a fallback clause in the event of the project failing," according to the taxpayers' association.
There is no comment on the buyback price. Finance Minister Michael Richter (CDU) said in May that it was a fair price. According to the Taxpayers' Association, this cannot be verified and criticizes the lack of transparency. A large industrial park is also planned, with a total area of around 1,100 hectares.
What the Taxpayers' Association is still criticizing
The association also points out the extremely increased costs and the long construction time when closing the gap in the western bypass of Halle. The southern part has been accessible since 2004, but in the northern part there are always problems with environmental issues. Courts heard lawsuits against the construction.
In addition, the Taxpayers' Association is taking up a delegation trip by several AfD MPs to the USA, which had already been discussed publicly in December 2025. “Looking outside the box is legitimate, but the AfD trip to New York exceeds the limits of what is acceptable and suggests foreign policy ambitions,” says the association’s assessment. “More responsibility when using taxpayers’ money is urgently needed.”
In December 2025, the AfD parliamentary group confirmed: “The parliamentary group members will then bill the travel expenses to the state parliament or the parliamentary group within the permitted limits.” The aim of the trip was: “The delegation trip primarily serves to establish contacts, maintain and intensify existing political and parliamentary relationships.”
The Taxpayers' Association
The Taxpayers' Association is a private association that politically advocates, among other things, the efficient use of tax money and sound state finances. He lobbies for this in the Bundestag and with highly publicized campaigns. The Taxpayers' Association emphasizes that it is politically neutral.
The Black Book is controversial. It is criticized for merely listing spectacular individual cases, but often ignoring their context and not drawing a representative overall picture of tax waste. Authorities and municipalities named therein often defend themselves against the allegations and justify their financial decisions.
