Germany’s public finances are under pressure. Climate change, the war in Ukraine, economic structural change, the renewal of infrastructure, and an aging society—all of this costs a great deal of money and fuels distributional conflicts. For this reason, it is necessary to discuss key strategic decisions. What can and do we, as a society, still afford? And how can we distribute the burdens fairly? The public debate on these questions is shaped by entrenched camps. Many citizens lack the necessary knowledge about taxes and public finance for a fact‑based discussion.
The Citizens’ Dialogue on Fair Taxes and Public Finance set out to explore how things could be done differently. This publication describes how the dialogue was conducted and summarizes the experiences and outcomes. Participants debated complex and often abstract issues—from inheritance tax and pension insurance to a federal tax administration. In the end, despite a diversity of views, they agreed on a total of 13 recommendations, which are published in this citizens’ report. The dialogue shows that engaging citizens in discussions about taxes and public finance is not only urgently needed; it can work—and it is worthwhile.
