A proposed tax-free bonus of up to €1,000 for employees could also be paid out by employers to recipients of the planned basic security benefits, provided those recipients have income from paid work. This provision is detailed in a draft bill from the coalition factions of the CDU/CSU and SPD, which is expected to be voted on by the Bundestag, according to a report from “Die Welt” (Wednesday edition). The basic security benefit is set to replace the Bürgergeld starting in July, formally referring to benefits under the German Social Code Book II (SGB II).
The draft bill stipulates that any payments made by employers to their employees-in addition to the standard salary-as an “alleviation premium” of up to a certain amount will not be counted as income for those receiving SGB II benefits. Essentially, this means that recipients of basic security benefits would receive the bonus amount on top of their existing state benefits and regular wages, without any deductions. The bill further specifies this point with the statement: “Employees should receive these benefits in full even if they receive benefits under SGB II”.
Experts from the CDU/CSU defend this regulation as being based on sound principles. Fritz Güntzler (CDU), the CDU/CSU’s policy spokesperson on finance in the Bundestag, noted, “The Corona aid and the inflation compensation bonus were structured in the same way”. He added that this was not a surprise, explaining that if employers had paid their staff, for instance, an extra 100 euros on a one-time basis, the state could not simply withhold that money elsewhere.
Officials in the SPD-led Ministry of Finance also pointed to the precedent set by the inflation compensation bonus-the amount of up to €3,000 that could be paid tax- and social-security-free by companies between 2022 and 2024. At that time too, the premium was not counted as income when calculating supplementary payments.