Flat-rate energy allowance for pensioners

Many pensioners will also receive an energy price lump sum of 300 euros on December 1, 2022.

Following the adoption of the legal basis by the Federal Council, pensioners will now also receive an energy price lump sum as a one-off payment of 300 euros. This lump sum will be paid to anyone who is entitled to an old-age, reduced earning capacity or survivor's pension from the statutory pension insurance scheme or to pension payments under the Civil Servants' Pension Act or the first and second parts of the Soldiers' Pension Act as of December 1, 2022. The entitlement only exists if the person is resident in Germany.

The energy price lump sum will be transferred automatically at the beginning of December 2022 as a one-off payment by the pension paying bodies or the bodies paying the pension benefits. It is not subject to social security contributions, but is taxable. However, whether there is actually a higher tax burden or a tax assessment at all depends on the individual circumstances of each case.

However, the energy price lump sum may very well mean that a tax assessment is required for the first time or only once in 2022 if the pensioner's taxable income exceeds the basic tax-free allowance of EUR 10,347 in 2022. During the legislative process, there was already initial criticism of the tax liability of the energy price lump sum from the tax officials' union because, unlike the lump sum for employed persons, the pensioner lump sum does not meet the tax system requirements for taxable income and will therefore not only further burden the already overburdened tax offices, but will probably also lead to numerous appeals and constitutional complaints.

If you receive several pensions (e.g. old-age pension and widow's pension), you only receive the flat-rate energy price allowance for pensioners once. This means that the entitlement is not multiplied by several pensions. However, the energy price lump sum for pensioners is independent of the energy price lump sum for employed persons, which in most cases is already paid out in September. These payments are not mutually exclusive and a pensioner with a part-time job can therefore be entitled to both lump sums - i.e. payments totaling 600 euros.

If you have any further questions about the energy price flat rate, you can call the citizens' hotline of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs from Monday to Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on 030 221 911 001.