Nigeria, March 26 -- Germany's Constitutional Court has dismissed an appeal by six Free Democratic Party (FDP) politicians seeking to eliminate the additional tax initially imposed to cover reunification costs.

The court, in its ruling on Wednesday, stated that the government still had valid financial obligations linked to reunification but noted that the solidarity surcharge could not remain indefinitely.

While affirming the current legality of the tax, the judges warned that it could become unconstitutional if its necessity ceased to exist.

Had the ruling gone against the surcharge, the federal budget for 2025 could have faced a shortfall of 12.75 billion euros (13.8 billion dollars), with the government potentially having to refund ...