Paul Kirchhof

Paul Kirchhof ( born February 21, 1943 in Osnabrück ) is a German constitutional and tax law. Cemetery has held a chair in constitutional law at the University of Heidelberg and Director of the Institute of Public Finance and Tax Law. From 1987 to 1999 he was a federal judge.

• 2.1 1974-1999
• 2.2 2000 to today

• 4.1 Family Policy
• 4.2 pension policy
• 4.3 Tax policy
• 4.4 Broadcasting Fees Law

About the person

Paul Kirchhof is a lawyer in the areas of constitutional law, the financial condition and tax law and European law. His research and work have shaped over decades the development of the income tax, constitutional law and European integration in Germany. He is co-editor of the ten-volume Handbook of German constitutional law and a commentary on the income tax law.

As a non-party member, he was part of the team of experts of the CDU / CSU candidate for chancellor Angela Merkel at the 2005 federal election and should be a thing as finance her first cabinet possible. In the event a grand coalition, however, did not explain churchyard to stand for the post are available. Analysis of public opinion research institutes, according to the discussion of the cemetery was a reason for the unexpectedly poor performance of the CDU / CSU in the Bundestag election.

Churchyard is a member of the Catholic student associations for study days K.St.V. Rheno - Palatia Freiburg, K.St.V. Saxonia Munich and honor of the Philistines K.St.V. Arminia Bonn in CT. He is also Chairman of the Trustees of the Eugen Biser Foundation and Vertrauensdozent Cusanuswerk in Heidelberg.

Training

Cemetery was in Osnabrück and from 1953 in Karlsruhe to school, where his father was a judge at the Federal Court. Paul Kirchhof was a fellow of the Episcopal study Cusanuswerk. After legal studies, he was awarded his doctorate in Munich with the thesis topic, the concept of jurisdictional powers in Article 33, paragraph IV of the Basic Law and habilitated in 1974 at Heidelberg University with the thesis " Managing by indirectly by the action ." After the cemetery was from 1975 to 1981 as professor and successor, Frederick Klein Director of the Institute for Tax Law at the University of Münster. In the churchyard followed Dieter Birk. Since 1981, the cemetery is the director of the Institute for Financial and Tax Law at the University of Heidelberg.

Family

Paul Kirchhof is the son of former judge at the Federal High Ferdinand Kirchhof and the brother of the Vice President of the Federal Constitutional Court of Ferdinand Kirchhof. His grandfather was a " master carpenter and wood carver ." Paul Kirchhof is Catholic, married and has two sons and two daughters.

Stages of Life

1974-1999

1987 Cemetery was appointed on proposal of the CDU as a non-partisan judges in the Second Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe, where he remained until 1999. Under his influence, the much acclaimed requires the legislature, care and educational costs of children at the subsistence level was created to take into account for tax purposes. He also argues that the fundamental rights of the Basic Law and other ratings contained special protection of marriage and family, the also extends to tax policy. The tax legislation is given, with business acquisition communities to treat or better see marriages and families are at least equal. It should not just be allowed entrepreneurs to offset income and expenditure. This possibility should be open to communities such as marriages and families as well.

In addition to the tax policy cemetery was one of the Eurosceptic judge in the Second Senate, which was reflected particularly in the Maastricht judgment (E 89, 155 ), in which he participated as rapporteur prevail. The there -held view that the Federal Constitutional Court a test competence in " erupting Community acts " have held, has led to considerable debate in the scientific community. This line is after his retirement from the Senate of the Federal Constitutional Court indeed stark perspective (banana market organization decision, E 102, 147), but has not explicitly rejected.

Other important decisions to which the cemetery was involved, were the Euro decision and the decision to Somalia and the AWACS deployment.

2000 to today

Since 2000 the cemetery passes next to the chair at the Faculty of Law in addition, the research group Federal Tax Code at the University of Heidelberg and worked there a separate control model based on the principles of an out -holding from the economic life state and should greatly simplify the tax legislation ( Income Tax Code ).

As of 2003, the cemetery was co-editor of the Christian weekly newspaper Rhenish Mercury. It was the end of 2004 to 15 July 2006 Member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Bank AG and a member of the Supervisory Board of Allianz Life. He was also on the board of assessors Gorres Society.

Cemetery was an honorary doctorate in 2006 by the University of Osnabrück, and in 2008 by the Ukrainian Free University in Munich.

He was president of the 65th and 66th German Jurists. From 2001 to 2007 the cemetery was chairman of the German tax Law Society.

Since 1 April 2013 the cemetery is president of the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences.

Court

From the case following decisions are to be emphasized, in which the cemetery was involved (References are given in BVerfGE format):

• Children subsistence I (E 99, 246 ), Children subsistence II (E 99, 268 ), children's subsistence III (E 99, 273) - Parents may, if they pass on part of their income to meet their maintenance obligations to their children, even in the way feature that they pay from taxes. This part of their income goes to the children. The part can not by the laws of the parents, but must be attributed to the children.
• Family Compensation II (E 99, 216) - Equality between families and cohabiting with regard to childcare costs
• Unconstitutionality of confiscatory taxes, especially property tax ( E 93, 121). In this decision, the Federal Constitutional Court established under the auspices of the cemetery later discontinued so-called half -sharing principle.
• Withholding tax ( E 84, 239) - Taxation of investment income, which is based solely on the tax return (declaration ) without having to be controlled can (verification), suffers from a structural lack of enforcement and therefore violates the principle of equality.
• Maastricht judgment (E 89, 155 )
• Euro - decision (E 97, 350)
• Financial Constitution: Decisions on the financial balance between federal and state governments: fiscal equalization II (E 86, 118) and financial compensation III (E 101, 158); Unconstitutionality of the " coal penny " ( E 91, 186)
• Overhang mandates II ( E 95, 335): The court dismissed a judicial review by stalemate back, the overhang seats in parliamentary elections and thus rebuked significant inequalities in weight of votes. Cemetery belonged to the Group in the court, which confirmed the overhang mandates and the existing electoral system.

Even after his retirement from office, the influence of his work can be seen:

• Speculation tax ruling: The court declared parts of the Income Tax Act to be void, the capital gains on securities charge, as long as a structural lack of enforcement is only honest taxpayers will be charged ( E 110, 94).

Political Position

Family policy

The protection and promotion of the family are a central point in the political conviction cemetery. As a Constitutional Court judge, he campaigned for a betterment of families and children. He argues that it was at liberty to every individual whether he marries and has children - but they should all or already mostly people choose not to, would - thought to its logical conclusion - Society and State economic collapse ( Diogenes paradox Böckenförde dilemma). Therefore, it is duty of the state to obtain an active promotional position.

Cemetery advocates in family policy for a better reconciliation of family and work from. It calls for greater care by more nursery and kindergarten places and guarantees better return to the workplace, but also decidedly strengthening the rights (eg pension ) of parent, non-working mothers. Cemetery was Ambassador of the Initiative for a New Social Market Economy.

In 2002, the cemetery has written a foreword to a book (Adventure Family) by Jürgen and Martine Liminski about their family of ten children, "the mother " doing "in the family " [ ... ] " career " as a "family manager " give they their children, " above all, time. [It] gives them on this basis, tenderness, affection and a home [ ... ]. The father sees his first responsibility in his family profession, and only then in its acquisition profession. " The father educate " the children in their belonging to family, the state, the market economy, cultural community and the Church."

As a result of this plea was perceived as a fundamental ideological opinion, and to some extent - for example, by Chancellor Gerhard Schröder in TV debate with Angela Merkel - criticized as "reactionary " and "anti - emancipatory ". In later interviews, cemetery protested against this accusation, pointing out that the preface expressly refers to the 12-member family Liminski in the book, although in their children's education an "ideal " representative, but that does not generalize as a benchmark for anyone to be should, but what is " malicious" happened in the 2005 election campaign. The present situation of young women is consistent with the his two daughters and his two daughters, they associations and family life.

In the controversy surrounding the Civil Partnership Act in 2001, the cemetery led from Article 6 of the Basic Law, marriage and family under the "special protection of the state ," observed a distance bid, which prohibits legal equality of homosexual unions with marriage. The Federal Constitutional Court did not accept this view of his former member and decided that the Basic Law a particularly active promotion of marriage and family ask, but no indemnity rule know.

Pension policy

In the German pension system he advocates a stronger second column after the funded scheme, in addition to the current capital allocation principle, the long term even the complete transition to the funded scheme, though with a state support. Paul Kirchhof assumes that in the medium term, the contributors could no longer pay for the people in the pension since then come to two contributors depending on the model of a pensioner. However, economists argue often that also funded systems of the aging does not remain unaffected, cf funded.

Tax policy

Churchyard wanted to implement in the event of a possible coalition between the CDU / CSU and FDP in the 16th Parliament as Minister of Finance the tax policy of the government. In the long term it aims instead of the usual in Germany progressive course of income tax at a marginal tariff levels of 15, 20 and 25 % for all income groups. But allowances and social compensation also ensure the control model of the cemetery for an indirect progression of the average tax rate.

Churchyard has spoken out long against a tax increase, but then they wanted to endorse in connection with a reduction in non-wage labor costs and an exemption for the reduced VAT rate of 7%. Meanwhile cemetery designated adopted by the Bundestag end of May 2006 the VAT increase frankly as " unconstitutional ". He encourages even insert any, constitutional complaint against it.

The controversial proposals by Paul Kirchhof are described in the article churchyard model.

License fee law

The reform of the broadcasting fee model 1 January 2013, which makes people not but households dutiable, goes back to an opinion cemetery on behalf of ARD, ZDF Germany and radio.

Rescue packages

Cemetery attached to the March 22, 2013 its opinion on state bailouts in an article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung article growth without value to the expression: A debt-financed rescue packages have a destabilizing effect.

Awards, Honors and Recognitions

The following honors were bestowed Paul Kirchhof:

• Federal Cross of Merit ( Great Cross of Merit with Star and Sash of the Federal Republic ) (1999 )
• Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art First Class (2000)
• Commander's Cross of the Pontifical Order of New Year's Eve (2002)
• Medal of Merit of the State of Baden -Württemberg ( 2003)
• Lichtenberg Medal of the Göttingen Academy of Sciences ( 2004)
• Bavarian Order of Merit (2006)
• Honorary doctorate ( Dr. iur. Hc ), University of Osnabrück ( 2006)
• Honorary doctorate from the Ukrainian Free University in Munich ( 2008)

Cemetery has been awarded the following prizes:

• Heinrich Brauns Prize ( 2000)
• Ludwig Erhard Prize (2000)
• Hanns Martin Schleyer Prize ( 2001)
• Eugen- Bolz - Price ( 2001)
• Georg von Hertling Medal of CT (2001)
• Oswald von Nell- Breuning - Price ( 2003)
• Reformer of the year by the readers of FAS and the INSM ( 2005).
• Jacob Grimm Prize German language for his contribution to the language of the law and the German Language Law ( 2005)
• German SME Award (2005 ) of the ' markt intern Verlag partly because of his courageous commitment to honesty and practicality in the tax
• Pforzheimer Science Award for University Business 2006 ( www.hs- pforzheim.de )
• Ludwig Erhard Medal for Meritorious Service to the Social Market Economy ( 2007)
• Heinz Herbert Karry Award for contributions to the prosperity and development of the free, democratic and social rule of law (2007)
• Friedrich August von Hayek Prize ( 2009)
• Augustin Bea Prize ( 2009)
• Mastermind's price of Plansecur group of companies (2011)
• Schader Prize (2012 )

Works (selection)

• Federal Tax Code, a reform proposal for the renewal of the tax law, CF Müller Verlag Heidelberg, 2011, ISBN 978-3-8114-5429-3.
• The measure of justice: Bring our country back into balance, Droemer / Knaur, Munich 2009, ISBN 978-3-426-55406-7! .
• The Law of Hydra. Give the people back their state. Droemer Vg, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-426-27407-8, ( review: The state agency as a bribe ).
• The renewal of the state. An easy task, Herder, Freiburg 2006, ISBN 3-451-29074- X.
• Freedom Party Competition and State autonomy - solidarity, in: ORDO - Yearbook of the order of business and society, vol 56, 2005, pp. 55-60.
• Perspectives of a modern tax law: Festschrift for Hermann Otto Solms, Berlin 2005, ISBN 978-3-503-09081-5.
• The path to a new tax law. Clear, understandable, equitable, 2005, dtv paperbacks Vol 34216, ISBN 3-423-34216-1.
• With Josef Isensee (eds. ): Handbook of constitutional law of the Federal Republic of Germany. 3rd edition (from 2003 ), currently 10 volumes, C. F. Müller Verlag, Heidelberg.
• Income Tax Act - Compact comment. C. F. Müller Verlag Heidelberg, 10th edition 2011, ISBN 978-3-8114-2104-2.
• Income Tax Act, Great comment. with Hartmut Söhn and Rudolf Mellinghoff, loose-leaf, 20 folders, 1987-2013, ISBN 978-3-8114-1213-2.
• Income Tax Code. C. F. Müller Verlag, Heidelberg, 2005, ISBN 3-8114-5136-7.
• The state - a renovation task. Herder, 2005, ISBN 3-451-05555-4.
• The state as a guarantor and enemies of freedom. Schöningh 2004, ISBN 3-506-71772-3.
• The gentle loss of freedom. Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-446-22689-3
• Taxation in the Constitution State contributions to the theory of order and governance., 2000. ISBN 3-16-147456-2.
• Standards and procedures for the distribution of the tax in accordance with Article 106 paragraph 3 and paragraph 4 sentence 1 of the Basic Law. , Together with Wilhelm Geiger, Karl -Heinrich Hans Meyer, Karl Maria Hettlage Gunter Kisker, Fritz Ossenbühl, Dieter Pohmer, Klaus Vogel, in: Issue 30 of the series of the Federal Ministry of Finance, 1981
• Managing through indirect action, Heymann, Cologne [ua ] 1977, ISBN 3-452-18260-6. ( Habilitation thesis )
• The concept of jurisdictional powers in Article 33, paragraph IV of the Basic Law, Munich 1968. (Dissertation)
• Germany in Schuldensog. The path from the guarantor back to citizens. C. H. Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-64043-8.