To secure jobs at seagoing vessels, the German Bundestag and Bundesrat have approved an act that initiates the so called „Lohnsteuereinbehalt“. That means that the payroll tax for  employees on German-flagged ships, the payroll tax will be omitted. What is still needed is the approvel oft he EU Commision.

At the program „plusminus“ of the television channel ARD, experts were questioned about the theme. Dr. Michael Thöne is business executive at the FiFo Institute for Public Economics at the University of Cologne. He advised the German Bundestag before the voting about the act. He estimates the costs after the act takes effect will be around 25.000 Euro subsidy per year for every position.  

The video, which has been aired on April 27 2016, can be seen here (in German): http://www.daserste.de/information/wirtschaft-boerse/plusminus/sendung/reeder-100.html