
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil wants to simplify the tax system – including for couples. He is encountering resistance in the Union. Would it be more expensive for taxpayers?
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Lars Klingbeil plans to simplify the tax system, especially for couples, by abolishing tax classes III and V.
Klingbeil Plan What an end to tax classes III and V would mean for you
Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil wants to simplify the tax system – including for couples. He is encountering resistance in the Union. Would it be more expensive for taxpayers?
By Matthias Kaufmann and Gerald Traufetter
November 11, 2026, 4:18 p.m

Comment on EU-Ukraine policy: The Chancellor is putting pressure on the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia because they are not providing aid to Ukraine but are expecting EU money.

The Federal Ministry of Finance plans to replace tax classes III and V with an automated factoring process. The aim is to reduce bureaucracy and achieve fairer taxation, while the Union criticizes the project as ideological.

Labor Minister Alexander Schweitzer is planning a reform package to stimulate the economy. Longer fixed-term options, more Sunday work in bakeries and libraries as well as relaxed protection against dismissal for high incomes from 2027 are planned.
Hamburg's mayor Peter Tschentscher rejects the threat from the construction company Lupp to remove cranes from the Elbtower. The city will not take any private risks, but remains interested in purchasing land for a natural history museum.

The Federal Ministry for Family Affairs is planning an income limit for the state maintenance advance. Single parents with a taxable income of 40,000 euros or more will no longer have any entitlement in the future if the other parent does not pay.
The SPD parliamentary group is proposing an extended right of residence for refugees who are working or in training. The aim is to alleviate the labor shortage and to provide security for well-integrated people, especially Syrians and Ukrainians.