What to do with the unexpected tax revenues?

With the current upswing in economic activity in Germany, the budget situation has clearly improved. The commission appointed by the Ministry of Finance to estimate tax revenue, in its forecast released in May, has calculated that the public budgets will have nearly €180 billion in additional revenue from the years 2007 to 2010. What is to be done with this unexpected boost in revenue? Wolfgang Wiegard, University of Regensburg and member of the German Council of Economic Experts, favours balancing the budget and then giving the remainder back to the taxpayers in the form of lower tax rates. Thomas Straubhaar, HWWI, proposes cash cheques to reimburse taxpayers immediately. Joachim Poss, SPD MP, presents the position of the ruling coalition; Otto Fricke, member of the Finance Committee of the German Bundestag, does the same for the FDP parliamentary party. Karl Heinz Däke, Bund der Steuerzahler (alliance of taxpayers), argues for reducing new indebtedness and lowering the tax burden.