Which relief measures are already in place?

Nine-euro ticket: Since 1 June, all citizens have been able to travel on local and regional public transport for just nine euros a month with an ÖPNV ticket. The reduced price is valid across the whole country for the period from June to August 2022. Around 21 million nine-euro tickets were purchased in June alone. The Federal Government is providing 2.5 billion euros to fund the nine-euro ticket.

Fuel tax cuts: Fuel tax cuts were introduced on 1 June, cutting taxes to the European minimum for a period of three months. Petrol tax will be reduced by 29.55 cents per litre and diesel tax by 14.04 cents per litre. By doing this, the Federal Government is cutting additional tax income by 3.1 billion euros.

Fuel tax relief calculator: This calculator helps you work out how much this tax relief is worth when you fill up your car.

“We won’t leave anyone to face these challenges alone. We’ve already introduced relief packages worth 30 billion euros, including a whole range of measures, some of which are only just starting to take effect.”

Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, 22 July 2022

What relief comes into effect in July?

Child bonus: In July, every family will receive a one-off child bonus worth 100 euros for every child that is eligible for child benefits. This will be offset against the child tax allowance, and will be paid a few days after regular child benefits payments. Total cost: 1.4 billion euros.

Child supplement: From July, children, young people and young adults at risk of poverty will receive an immediate monthly supplement of 20 euros in addition to their normal supplementary child allowance. An additional 31 million euros have been made available for the supplements. This raises the highest supplementary child allowance from 209 euros per child per month to 229 euros.

One-off payment for basic income support: Adults who are eligible for unemployment benefits II, social security or basic income protection in June 2022 will receive a one-off payment of 200 euros. This will be paid alongside regular payments in July.

One-off payments for recipients of unemployment benefits I: People who are eligible for unemployment benefits I will receive a one-off payment of 100 euros in addition to their unemployment benefits. To be eligible for this payment, the recipient must be eligible for unemployment benefits I on at least one day during July 2022.

Heating cost subsidy: Starting in July 2022, 2.1 million people will receive a one-off heating cost subsidy. This will be worth at least 270 euros for households receiving housing benefits. Students and trainees on BAföG programmes will receive a minimum of 230 euros. The Federal Government is providing around 380 million euros for these payments.

Scrapping the Energy Sources Act levy: From 1 July 2022 electricity customers no longer have to pay the Energy Sources Act (EEG) levy – six months earlier than planned in the coalition agreement. This reduces electricity prices by around 3.7 cents per kilowatt hour and will deliver relief worth 6.6 billion euros to consumers.

Which other relief measures are coming?

Income tax relief calculator: Use this calculator to work out how much income tax relief is worth to you in 2022.

Energy price lump sum: All those in employment who are liable for income tax will receive a one-off energy price lump sum in September worth 300 euros. This will be paid via the employer's payroll. The cut will be passed to self-employed people through reductions to their advance tax payments. The relief is worth 10.4 billion euros.

Employees’ allowance for business related expenses: The employees’ allowance for business related expenses is being raised retrospectively to 1 January 2022, rising by 200 euros to 1,200 euros per taxpayer. Taxpayers can also include all job application costs on their income tax declaration for this year without having to supply additional documentation. This relief is worth 1.1 billion euros.

Basic personal tax allowance: The basic personal tax allowance increase is backdated to 1 January 2022, rising 363 euros to 10,347 euros. This allows taxpayers to claim the extra allowance this year. Increasing the basic personal tax allowance corresponds to relief worth just under 3 billion euros and compensates in part for fiscal drag.

Commuter tax allowance: The commuters' allowance for professional travellers is rising to 38 cents per kilometre (from the 21st kilometre), backdated to 1 January. This means taxpayers can claim it on their 2022 tax declarations. The new rules apply to all forms of transport until 2026.

More relief – a boost for everyone: In order to take the sting out of high energy prices, the Federal Government has implemented a package of tangible tax relief. The Federal Finance Ministry has created six case studies to show how the relief packages will affect citizens.