An increased economic room for maneuver may be on the way, and citizens should feel it through tax cuts, according to LA, DD, and K. The government is soon ready to announce an increased economic room for maneuver, and at least half of this amount should, according to three blue parties, be used to reduce taxes. Their common message comes from Liberal Alliance, Danish Democrats, and The Conservatives, although there are still no figures on how much the room for maneuver will be increased by.
The room for maneuver represents the state’s expected future surplus, which can either be used to lower taxes or for new investments and initiatives. Liberal Alliance’s political leader, Alex Vanopslagh, is open to negotiations on which taxes should be lowered, but emphasizes the need to give the citizens some of their own money back: “It is not the first time that Wammen (Minister of Finance Nicolai Wammen) shows up and says that we are marinated in money. We have a large economic room for maneuver. As I see it, it is something principled,” says Alex Vanopslagh.
The same message comes from the chairman of Danish Democrats, Inger Støjberg, who wants to remove taxes such as diesel tax, streaming tax, and the upcoming CO2 tax. Although there is no complete agreement among LA, DD, and K on all taxes, Støjberg believes that the parties can reach a “good solution”. She adds: “Common to these taxes is that they make it more expensive to be Danish, and that they especially hit rural areas,” says Støjberg.
Mona Juul, chairman of The Conservatives, wants relief in personal taxes, especially income tax. “Just because you have money in the bank, you do not need to spend it all. But an increase of the caliber we are looking at here is so large that we believe the money should go back to the citizens.”
But not everyone believes that this money should go towards tax cuts. Several municipalities instead want funds for their own economies. Alex Vanopslagh states that the three blue parties only propose to use half of the increase: “We are not even saying that all the money – probably around ten billion – should go to lower taxes. I wouldn’t mind that, but we are saying half, and I think it is fair that it should go back to the Danes instead of making the public sector more expensive.”
Question: There are also climate investments and the war in Ukraine, which Denmark supports. Isn’t it good to have a little something extra in the bank? – “Yes, but looking at the Danish economy overall, it is quite robust. We have a low public debt. This means that we can without problems use relatively large one-time amounts to support Ukraine, without having to cut back on public services or otherwise jeopardize the Danish economy,” says Alex Vanopslagh.