Germany's Left Party wants to halve billionaires' wealth

Two weeks before national elections in Germany, the struggling Left Party (die Linke) has laid out a new tax plan targeting the superrich. The declared goal is to cut the wealth of billionaires in half within a decade.

"We believe there should not be any billionaires," the paper from party co-chair Jan van Aken states, before going on to outline a five-point plan designed to make this position a reality. 

Germany is due to hold a parliamentary election on February 23.

The Left is currently hovering around the 5% support which is legally required to enter the parliament. Even if they clear this obstacle, the larger parliamentary faction usually avoid working with the post-communist party, so the Left's chances of actually implementing these policies seem slim.

What are the Left's new tax plans? 

The party proposes reintroducing Germany's "wealth tax" which was abolished after the Constitutional Court deemed it unconstitutional in 1995. 

This tax was not focusing on income, but on people's accrued wealth. 

The party proposes a sliding scale, 1% for fortunes in excess of €1 million ($1.03 million), 5% for those higher than €50 million, and 12% for those higher than €1 billion.

Next, the party calls for a one-off fee for the richest 0.7% of citizens, starting at 10% for those with more than €2 million, and rising as high as 30% for larger sums. 

The party also aims for a higher inheritance tax for larger estates, and higher rates of income tax for top earners. This would include a 60% income tax on salaries above €250,000 and 75% for those over €1 million. 

Finally, capital gains taxes should no longer be a flat 25% fee, but rather should operate on a sliding scale like income tax depending on the extent of the gains on assets.

Party co-leader van Aken draws parallels to new 'super-rich' US government

When launching the new proposal, van Aken alluded to Donald Trump's new administration in the US. 

"The new government is made up of the super-rich and the right, who are doing everything to secure their fortune and their power," he said.

In Germany, too, van Aken argued, the very wealthy used their fortunes to secure unreasonable political influence. 

The Left Party had been struggling in the polls in recent years amid the rise of the far-right AfD. While the Left Party draws political roots from the former socialist regime in the now-defunct GDR, this region is now a stronghold of the AfD. 

These troubles were further exacerbated when former Left leader Sahra Wagenknecht broke away from the party to form her own Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance (BSW). 

Edited by: Darko Janjevic