According to a study by NEOS, middle-class Austrians are reluctant to make financial investments compared to other countries. 50% of households invest an average of up to 15,000 euros less than similar households in Belgium or the Netherlands, according to a NEOS Lab analysis of new data from the European Central Bank published on Saturday. NEOS calls for tax reform.
“The government in Austria is depriving hard-working people of the opportunity to build wealth by imposing record high taxes,” NEOS economic and social spokesman Gerald Loacker criticized, according to the broadcast. “That is why we NEOS insist on reducing the tax and contribution rate to 40 percent.” Once again, Luker clearly “rejects” the SPÖ’s demand for a wealth tax: “The state has an expenditure problem, not a revenue problem.”
According to the study, Austria lags significantly in international comparison, especially when it comes to investments in securities and other retirement products. “Austrian households (net household income in the range of 30,000 to 40,000 euros per year) have up to 40,000 euros less in stocks, investment funds or life insurance than similar households in Germany or France,” the broadcast said. Loacker believes that long-term investments should be exempt from capital gains tax and the insurance tax on retirement savings products should be reduced from four to one percent.
According to the analysis, the situation is similar in the real estate sector. The property assets of the bottom half of domestic households are lower than in Austria in only two eurozone countries. In addition, Austria has the lowest home ownership rate in all of Europe after Germany. In this context, Loacker calls for a property transfer tax subsidy of €400,000 when purchasing the first residential property.
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