What you make, what they take
The new year has seen a whole host of legal and financial changes in Germany. Here is a summary of some of the main ones:
• Employees have a new right to work part time if they have been working for at least six months in a company with at least 16 employees. You must inform your employer three months in advance; s/he can refuse only if there are good business reasons. Existing part-time workers also now have preference for unfilled full-time jobs.
• Mothers and fathers can now take up to three years off work together to look after their babies. This Erziehungsurlaub has been renamed Elternzeit. In addition, up to one year can be taken between the child’s third and eighth birthdays. During Elternzeit, parents whose place of employment has at least 16 workers have a right to part-time work, and can work for up to 30 hours a week.
• Income tax has been cut. The basic tax-free allowance has risen from DM 13,499 to DM 14,093 a year for a single person, and double that amount for married couples. The lowest rate of tax has fallen from 22.9 to 19.9 percent; the top rate from 51 to 48.5 percent (now payable from an annual taxable income of DM 107,600).
• There is a new tax break for commuters (Entfernungspauschale). Regardless of how you travel, this allowance is worth 70 Pfennig for the first 10 km of your (one-way) journey, 80 Pfennig for each further kilometer. Above an annual tax break of DM 10,000, or 59-km one-way journey, documentation is required.
• The depreciation (Abschreibung) period for computers has been decreased from four to three years. For many other items, the period has been extended.
• The unlimited private use of telephones, computers and the Internet at work is now officially tax-free (backdated to January 1, 2000). Up to now, only the first DM 50 a month was tax-free.
• The eco-tax (Ökosteuer) on gasoline and diesel has gone up by another 7 Pfennig a liter (including Mehrwertsteuer). The eco-tax on electricity has been increased from 2.5 to 3 Pfennig a kilowatt-hour.
• The road tax (Kfz-Steuer) has been increased for older, less environmentally-friendly, cars.
• Health insurance (Krankenversicherung) and nursing care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) for people in state health funds (gesetzliche Krankenkassen) are now levied on the first DM 6,525 of monthly income (previously DM 6,450).
• Social Security (Rentenversicherung) and unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung) are now levied on the first DM 8,700 of monthly income (previously DM 8,600). The rate of social security has fallen from 19.3 to 19.1 percent (half paid by the employer and half by the employee), whereas the rate of unemployment insurance has remained at 6.5 percent.
• The conditions for receiving state incapacity benefits (Erwerbsminderungsrenten) — for people who are unable to work for health reasons — have been tightened.
• From February 1, it will be illegal to use mobile phones while driving, unless you have a hands-free system. Fine: DM 60.
• Natural gas and trash (Müll) charges have been increased in Munich by 13 and 16 percent, respectively. Prices for public baths have gone up 5 percent. MVV prices will rise by a similar amount in June.
• The monthly television license fee (Rundfunkgebühr) has increased from DM 28,25 to DM 31,58.
• For the first time, women are allowed to bear arms in the German Army (Bundeswehr). This is the result of a European Court of Justice judgment on equal treatment.
