(2022)
Do retirees and pensioners also receive the energy allowance?
From 1 September 2022, all income tax-liable employees in tax classes I - V received a one-off energy price allowance of 300 Euro as a salary supplement, paid through the employer's payroll. Self-employed individuals received an advance through a one-off reduction in their income tax prepayment (§§ 112 to 122 EStG, introduced with the "Tax Relief Act 2022" of 23 May 2022). Pensioners and retirees were not previously eligible.
Currently, from 1 December 2022, retirees and pensioners also receive a one-off energy price allowance (EPP) of 300 Euro. The one-off payment is made automatically by the pension payment offices. The energy price allowance (EPP) is granted to those who, on the cut-off date of 1 December 2022, are entitled to an old-age, disability, or survivor's pension from the statutory pension insurance or to benefits under the civil service or military pension law. Eligibility exists only with a residence in Germany ("Act on the Payment of an Energy Price Allowance to Pension and Benefit Recipients and on the Extension of the Transitional Area" of 7 November 2022).
- Retirees from the general and miners' pension insurance as well as the farmers' old-age security are entitled to the one-off payment. This also includes persons receiving a pension due to compulsory insurance in the artists' social insurance. Recipients of benefits under the civil service and military pension law are also eligible. For benefit recipients of the federal states and municipalities, the regulatory competence lies with the federal states.
- Retirees from professional pension schemes are not eligible. For this group of people, the regulatory competence does not lie with the federal government, but with the federal states. Retirees from statutory accident insurance are also not eligible.
- Those receiving a pension from an EU state but residing in Germany are entitled to the energy price allowance. However, an application must be submitted to the Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See in 44781 Bochum between 9 January and 30 June 2023.
- The payment is independent of marital status. In the case of a married couple, both can receive the EPP if both receive a pension. If a person receives multiple pensions (e.g. old-age pension and widow's pension), the energy price allowance is only paid once. This also applies to simultaneous receipt of a pension and a civil service pension.
- The energy price allowance is subject to income tax. Whether there is actually a higher tax burden or a tax assessment at all depends on the individual circumstances in each case. A tax assessment for the year 2022 would be required for the first time if the taxpayer's income in 2022 exceeds the basic allowance (10,347 Euro).
- The energy price allowance is not subject to contributions to statutory health and long-term care insurance.
- The energy price allowance is not counted as income for means-tested social benefits. The allowance may also not be seized. Note: The non-seizability is explicitly regulated by law; thus, there is a difference to the energy price allowance for employees and self-employed persons, which can be seizable according to the decision of the Norderstedt District Court of 15 September 2022 (66 IN 90/19).
- No application is required for the payment of the energy allowance. The payment is made automatically.
- The EPP is paid out by the pension payment offices by 15 December 2022. Persons who receive a pension for the first time at the end of December will generally receive the energy price allowance at the second payment date at the beginning of 2023. The payment at the beginning of January is also automatic. No application is required. A total of around 19.7 million retirees are to receive the energy price allowance. The costs amount to around 6 billion Euro. The financing is provided from tax revenues, not from the contribution income of the pension insurance.
Can retirees receive the energy price allowance if they have already received an allowance for employees? Yes, the payments do not exclude each other. This is not an unjustified double payment. You can be eligible in both groups. Retirees do not need to report if they have already received an energy price allowance. However, if multiple pensions are received (e.g. old-age pension and widow's pension), the EPP is only paid once (information from the BMAS and the German Pension Insurance).
FAQs on the topic "Energy price allowance for retirees" can be found on the BAMS website: Questions and Answers on the Energy Price Allowance (EPP) for Pension and Benefit Recipients
