Deutsche Post chief wants tax hike

BONN, Germany, July 11 (UPI) -- One of Germany's most influential business figures is supporting a tax hike proposed by the opposition Christian Democratic Union.

The CDU, widely expected to beat the incumbent Social Democrats in September elections, has been calling for an increase in the nation's value-added tax to help offset the country's high labor costs, the Financial Times reported Monday.

Klaus Zumwinkel, chief executive of Deutsche Post, Europe's biggest postal group, called for an increase in the VAT from 16 percent to 20 percent to finance the country's creaking social security system.

That system is currently funded by levies on employees and employers.

The CDU has called for the VAT to be raised to 18 percent.