Price brakes, one-off payments and bonuses: who gets more money now
Created: 12/20/2022, 8:09 am
By: Tobias Utz
The traffic light government has passed numerous relief packages: who will benefit from them in December 2022 and January 2023.
Frankfurt/Berlin – In the coming weeks, numerous households in Germany will receive the announced support for the increased prices in numerous areas.
"In order to mitigate the financial impact of the sharp rise in energy costs for people and the economy, the federal government quickly launched three relief packages with a total volume of around 95 billion euros to provide relief and social support," the Federal Ministry of Finance announced.
However, pensioners, singles and families benefit to different extents from the relief packages:
an overview of the price brakes, emergency aid and bonuses.
Relief packages: Aid in December 2022
Energy flat rate:
Pensioners will already receive the energy flat rate in December 2022.
The transfer includes 300 euros, which are subject to income tax.
The date of the transfer by the German Pension Insurance is December 15th.
Seniors get the payment because they weren't included in the first relief package, which was paid out in September.
Emergency gas aid:
Some emergency gas aid will already be paid out in December 2022.
These vary in amount depending on the provider and contract constellation.
Alternatively, the emergency aid is offset against the annual gas consumption.
However, tenants only benefit from the emergency gas aid when the provider issues their next annual bill.
Consumers of natural gas and heat customers are to be exempted from the December down payment.
This applies, for example, to the sole owner of a single house who has a direct gas supply contract with a supplier, but also to small and medium-sized companies.
The relief amount should be credited.
Among other things, emergency aid for gas prices was decided.
(Iconic photo) © Patrick Pleul/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/Illustration/Iconbild
Relief packages: Aid in January 2023
Gas price brake:
For private households there will be a cap on gas prices from January 1st.
This means that a maximum of twelve cents per kilowatt hour may be charged for 80 percent of the total consumption in the previous year.
The reference month is September.
The remaining 20 percent should be billed by the respective supplier at the "normal price".
However, tenants who have not concluded a direct contract with a supplier only receive the gas price refund when the annual heating cost statement is made.
Electricity price brake:
For private households there will also be a cap on electricity prices from January 1st.
This means that a maximum of 40 cents per kilowatt hour may be charged for 80 percent of the total consumption in the previous year.
In this case, too, September is the key month.
The remaining 20 percent should be billed by the respective supplier at the "normal price".
Citizens' income:
Hartz IV is called citizens' income from January 1st.
The reform provides that the standard rate will be increased by around 50 euros to 502 euros per month.
The allowances for additional earnings will also increase from 20 to 30 percent.
All information, for example on the application or the amount, can be found here.
Housing benefit:
From January 1st, the housing benefit will also increase in Germany.
“The amount of housing benefit is expected to increase by an average of around 190 euros per month in 2023.
That means more than doubling the previous housing benefit.
It will rise from an average of around 180 euros per month (without reform) to around 370 euros per month,” the federal government announced.
(do with dpa/AFP)
