DENK leaves support for PRO-Volt tax amendment undecided

DENK leader Stephan van Baarle has not said whether his party will back a tax-plan amendment from PRO and Volt, though he says its proposal to shift some of the tax burden from workers to wealthier people is one DENK can envisage. The party may be needed to secure a parliamentary majority for the change.

Van Baarle said DENK would assess the amendment as part of the wider tax plan. His party’s vote on the plan as a whole will depend partly on the fate of its own motions to cut taxes on fuel and groceries. The cabinet has advised MPs to reject those motions.

Van Baarle said the government needed to take substantial steps to make fuel and groceries cheaper, adding that the tax plan in its current form was “not enough”.

Party for the Animals leader Christine Teunissen also left her party’s vote on the overall plan open, saying it would first wait for the outcome of its proposals to turn what she called a “fossil” tax plan into a green one. The party will support the PRO-Volt amendment, she said, but argued that the change would not resolve everything.