Holznagel was disappointed by the decision of the Federal Fiscal Court published on Monday that the solidarity surcharge was still legal. "I would have preferred a different decision, but now we have clarity," he said. "Income taxpayers from around 65,000 euros must continue to pay the solos, but so do many companies and savers." The question of abolishing the solo remains on the "political agenda".

The head of the German Economic Institute (IW), Michael Hüther, also criticizes the decision of the Federal Fiscal Court: "A special need for financing for the new federal states is no longer recognizable," he told the newspaper. "Rather, it's about additional taxation of the companies, which bear more than two-thirds of the remaining solos."

The Federal Fiscal Court in Munich ruled on Monday that the federal government may continue to collect the solos. He thus dismissed the lawsuit of a Bavarian couple who no longer saw any basis for it and also classified it as a disguised tax on the wealthy.