Pension hammer: tax burden for pensioners ever higher - It is particularly bitter for these retirees

More and more retirees have to pay taxes.

But not only is the number of taxable pensioners increasing, but also their tax burden.

From which limit the load is particularly high.

Berlin - The tax burden for middle-income pensioners has risen sharply within ten years.

Specifically: by four times.

This is reported by the

and relies on new figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance for its bill.

According to the report, the example relates to someone who is now retiring and receives 1,500 euros gross per month.

The example person now has to pay 454 euros annually in income tax, calculates the tabloid.

In 2011 it would have been only 110 euros.

Low pensions, however, are less affected by the development.

Anyone who receives around 1200 euros a month only has to pay 27 euros in taxes annually.

Until 2018, however, this amount was still tax-free.

Taxes on pensions in Germany: a third of recipients are responsible

Around one in three pensioners already pays income tax, and the trend is rising.

The latest information on pension taxation is available to the Federal Statistical Office for 2017.

According to this, almost a third of all pensioners (32 percent) in Germany paid income tax.

Compared to 2016, the share has increased by almost three percentage points.

The background to this development is a fundamental revision of pension taxation that was passed in 2005.

The core element of the controversial reform is a gradual transition from so-called upstream to downstream taxation of pensions by 2040.

Taxable pensions in Germany: 90 percent have additional income

The proportion of the pension payments that are taxable in the payout phase depends on the year in which the pension starts.

A problem that has not yet been resolved is the risk of possible double taxation for pensioners.

It was only at the end of May that the Federal Fiscal Court (BFH) overturned the current regulation.

As the official statistics also show, almost 90 percent of the pensioners who were taxed in 2017 had additional income in addition to their pension.

In principle, pension recipients also include surviving spouses and children.

In the case of jointly invested partners, the partner's income can also play a role.