The expenditure brake is coming – Blue-Black puts red pen: savings are being made here!

In Austria the red pencil is used! At this moment, ÖVP club president August Wöginger and FPÖ finance spokesman Hubert Fuchs are presenting the budget schedule of a potential blue-black coalition. The ‘Krone’ was able to take a look at the ‘stability package’ in advance.

The most important points at a glance:

• In 2025, almost 6.4 billion euros are expected to be saved
• The majority is expected to come from reducing funding quotas. Namely almost 3.2 billion euros.
• 1.1 billion euros must be saved on administration. Ministries are obliged to make a so-called stability contribution. Where savings are made is up to the department in question.
• The digital tax – which mainly affects international internet companies – must be expanded and lead to more fairness in the tax system.

• Tax fraud must be combated consistently in the future. Therefore, a comprehensive anti-fraud package should be developed at expert level. Moreover, the loopholes in the tax legislation must be closed.
• The possibilities for additional income for the unemployed must be limited. Blauw-Zwart hopes for a saving of 82.5 million euros.
• Tax benefits for electric cars should be abolished. In 2025 alone, the abolition of this privilege is expected to generate more than 50 million euros. Savings must also be made on the kilometer allowance for bicycles and motorcycles.

Green politics is being “smoothed out”
Fuchs emphasized that the extent of the blame was not known for a long time: “We did not cause this pile of broken glass, but it is our responsibility to clean it up.”

According to Wöginger, prestigious green projects should be ‘smoothed out’, but not abolished. The aim here is to reach a “normal level”. Together we must be able to prevent a deficit procedure. “We need to get the budget deficit below 3 percent this year.”