Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: Schwesig: Government should urgently examine excess profit tax

Schwerin (dpa/mv) - Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania's Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) is calling for the federal government to urgently examine a possible excess profit tax in the debate about high fuel prices. With such an additional tax, some politicians in the traffic light coalition want to tax mineral oil companies more heavily. "It is not okay if corporations make profits with speculation in crises and war and the citizens have to bear the burden," Schwesig told the German Press Agency on Sunday. The federal government should therefore urgently examine a so-called excess profit tax. The SPD-led countries had already put forward this proposal during the prime ministers' conference. In East Germany in particular, many people with lower incomes and who often have to travel long distances to work are suffering from the persistently high petrol and diesel prices, said the Prime Minister.