The approval among the citizens is high: Three quarters of Germans would be happy about a monthly climate money, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) found out in a survey. The traffic light coalition had already made a commitment last year to relieve citizens in times of rising energy and living costs and at the same time to promote climate-friendly action. DIW researchers proposed a climate bonus of 100 euros per year and capita. The traffic light government has a different model in mind. An overview of plans, hurdles and role models:
The coalition of SPD, Greens and FDP committed itself to an annual flat rate relief last year. The climate or energy money is intended to relieve households in times of rising costs and be paid out annually. The money comes from the climate fund. The Greens had campaigned for the project to be enshrined in the coalition agreement.
The climate money is fed from the income from CO2 pricing. Since 2021, companies from the energy industry, but also industrial groups and airlines have had to pay taxes on their emissions. However, the costs can be passed on to the buyer. This means that everyone in Germany pays for the emissions – including consumers. For example, fuel prices rose. And landlords also give the CO2 tax on heating costs to the tenants. Since 2023, the costs have been shared.
So far, the CO2 price was 30 euros per tonne emitted, but is set to rise to 65 euros. In 2022, 8.7 billion euros were taken in this way. By 2025 it could be 15.7 billion.
In principle, it is primarily citizens with low incomes who should benefit from the relief. Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants the money only to be paid to people with a gross monthly salary of less than 4,000 euros. For married couples, the limit is 8,000 euros gross per month. The lump sum should be the same for everyone in order to reduce social inequalities. The basic idea: people with lower incomes emit fewer emissions and are more affected by rising energy and living costs.
Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) had wished that the money would be paid out at the beginning of the year. For the last year, the traffic light coalition has been brooding over the question of how best to transfer the money to the citizens. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) expects that the climate money will not reach the citizens until next year at the earliest, Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens) said that it will only be ready after the next federal election.
Irrespective of political assessments, the payment will be delayed because at the cabinet meeting in Meseberg in summer 2022 it was decided to postpone the planned increase in the CO2 price by one year due to the energy crisis. So far, however, it is still unclear how the money will be transmitted to the citizens. The Federal Central Tax Office (BZSt) wants to have the relief paid out via the federal treasury, which is subordinate to customs and thus to the Ministry of Finance.
However, it can also happen that the climate money is never paid out to the citizens, because Habeck has earmarked the money from the climate fund for subsidies for heating replacement. However, the appropriate bank details for the respective tax numbers must still be found. According to “Spiegel”, the BZSt expects the data to be available “at the latest” in the fourth quarter. The DIW has already warned of personnel problems with the mass transfer and the Federal Data Protection Commissioner also warned of a risk.
In Canada, citizens receive a comparable relief payment with the tax refund. Switzerland introduced a CO2 tax in 2008, bringing in 1.4 billion Swiss francs annually. Two thirds of this is paid back to citizens and business. Every citizen receives 61 Swiss francs (62 euros) annually from the health insurance companies, regardless of income and energy consumption. The cantons will be supported with the remaining third via a building program for energy-efficient refurbishment and renewable heating energies. Residents in Austria also receive an annual climate bonus of a maximum of 200 and a minimum of 100 euros. The money is adjusted to the place of residence and the connection to public transport. Here, too, the climate bonus is financed through CO2 pricing. in September 2022 the payment was doubled once due to rising energy and living costs.
Sources: German Institute for Economic Research, Bundestag.de, Finanz.at, Federal Office for the Environment Switzerland, “Der Spiegel”, “Wirtschaftswoche”, “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland”
