Under the new German Tax Relief Act 2022, as of September 1, 2022, employees are entitled to a one-time lump sum energy price allowance in the amount of 300 Euro. The allowance is intended to mitigate the currently high consumer costs for electricity and fuel.
Employers are obliged to pay out the 300 Euro energy price allowance to all employees and apprentices employed with them on September 1, 2022 and subject to wage tax classes I to V, regardless of the duration and scope of the employment relationship. Payments shall be made in the course of the September payroll cycle. They are subject to wage tax withholdings but exempt from social security contributions. Special rules apply to so-called mini-jobs (employees who are marginally employed only): These employees must confirm upfront in writing to their employer that their marginal employment is their first employment. The confirmation must be kept with the wage tax documentation. For mini-jobs taxed at a flat rate, the energy price allowance is tax free.
Employers will get reimbursed for the energy price allowance payments made by them in the course of their payroll wage tax declarations. For this purpose, they may set off the energy price allowance payments against the total amount of wage taxes they have to declare and pay to the tax authorities in the month in which allowance payments were made.
