Public pressure is mounting on the government to reduce the tax burden for single households, with petitions but also union leaders calling for reform Photo: Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne.

Public pressure is mounting on the government to reduce the tax burden for single households, with petitions but also union leaders calling for reform Photo: Matic Zorman / Maison Moderne.

Two petitions calling for the tax burden of single people in Luxembourg--and single parents in particular--to be reduced will have to be debated in parliament, setting up the issue to become a potential hot topic in this year’s election.

The two petitions launched in February, both demanded lower taxes for singles. One document specified that the 1a tax bracket for single parents should be abolished and people in that situation automatically transferred to the tax bracket 2, which applies to married or partnered couples.

A basic online salary calculator shows that a gross wage of €5,000 per month results in a net salary of just under €3,600. A single person with children receives €3,660. For a person married without children, this rises to over €4,150, although couples often base back-payments after their tax declaration.

More than 5,240 people signed the petition at its deadline, well above the 4,500 signatures required for the document to trigger a debate in parliament with lawmakers and members of the government.

There are currently five such debates scheduled between 19 April and 7 June on topics a variety of topics ranging from better protecting architectural heritage to extending the period between vehicle checks to two years rather than this being mandatory annually.

Parliament usually breaks for the summer in mid-July.

Another petition, which more generally asks to reduce taxes for singles, earned nearly 10,900 signatures. This, too, will have to be debated in parliament and it is not generally foreseen to combine debates, even if they are about similar topics.

Slated reform shelved during pandemic

Luxembourg has one of the  between people living alone and couples who are married or in a registered partnership among OECD countries. And the country’s singles have more than once voiced their opposition to this policy.

A petition in 2019 reached 6,800 signatures and the government at the time had slated a tax reform for 2023 to introduce a single fiscal table.

However, the pandemic--followed swiftly by the energy and cost-of-living crisis--prompted massive government subsidy programmes, causing the state’s deficit and public debt to rise.

The government backtracked on its tax reform citing budget constraints and promising some adjustments but no general overhaul.

For example, under a between the government, labour unions and business groups, a tax credit will apply to the indexation of wages to ensure that more of the money ends up in people’s pockets and compensate for the taxes paid on two indexation payments.

Parliament must validate this plan and it will apply retroactively for the full year. From 2024, tax brackets will be adjusted by 2.5 indexation payments (6.25%).

OGBL union leader Nora Back in March said that because of the October election, none of the political parties in government was prepared to take greater strides on tax reform during the March negotiations.

Election programmes

Luxembourg heads to the polls to elect a new parliament on 8 October. Political parties have yet to publish their election programmes with official campaigning not set to begin under after the summer break, five weeks before the ballot.

However, some topics, such as reduced or more flexible working hours, are already emerging as hot button issues. Tax reform is likely to feature high on the agenda.

Luc Frieden--candidate for prime minister for opposition party CSV--listed taxation as one of the election priorities in an with Delano’s sister publication Paperjam in February. Déi Gréng’s Sam Tanson, during a upon her nomination as the party’s candidate for PM, spoke about the need for a fairer tax system, which places less burden on single parents.

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