Climate Bonus and Anti-Inflation Bonus Come Earlier
The payment of the climate and anti-inflation bonus announced by the Austrian federal government will start in September. Because of inflation and the climate bonus, in 2022 all adults who have a main residence in Austria for at least six months will receive €500 and children €250, regardless of their citizenship and age.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer assured that the government will " help people through this difficult time." / Picture: © Bundeskanzleramt (BKA) / Andy Wenzel
The government's special payments to curb inflation and the climate bonus, which is intended to cushion the future burden of the CO2 tax, raise many questions.
For consumers, the new CO2 tax will have an impact on heating and fuel costs. To compensate for the additional financial burden, the regional climate bonus will also be introduced with the CO2 price.
According to the federal government, all people with their main residence in Austria receive 500 euros with the climate bonus and the anti-inflation bonus. For children under the age of 18, 250 euros will be paid out.
On the one hand, this is intended to reward climate-friendly behavior in connection with the eco-social tax reform. "On the other hand, the federal government is taking an important relief measure against the acute rise in prices," said the Chancellor. For this reason, the bonus has been increased to a total of 500 euros per person. However, this increase is only one-time for the year 2022.
However, not everyone receives the 250 euro cost-of-living bonus that was added to the 250 euro climate bonus. Anyone who earns more than 90,000 euros gross per year must pay tax on the cost-of-living adjustment by way of employee tax assessment. This is not necessary for the climate bonus.
From 2023, the climate bonus will then be staggered regionally, as was originally intended. Its amount then depends on how good the infrastructure and public connections are at your place of residence. According to the government, "those who rely on climate-friendly behavior will keep more of the climate bonus in their wallets." However, the government also assures that since the switch to climate-friendly alternatives is currently still difficult in some regions of Austria, the climate bonus will also be higher there.
Depending on where you live and the availability of public transportation, there are then four levels: in Vienna 100 euros, in all other municipalities - depending on the public transportation available - 133, 167 or 200 euros per year and person. For children, there is half. Whether the concept will hold in the face of rising inflation remains to be seen.
Chancellor Karl Nehammer emphasized in a statement on the accelerated implementation of climate and anti-inflationary bonuses that he and the government are doing everything they can to " help people through this difficult time." He said the government has n been working "under high pressure" over the past "months" to complete the preliminary work on the climate bonus and anti-inflationary bonus "ahead of schedule."
"Those who help quickly help twice - we are doing both: the climate bonus and anti-inflation bonus will be paid out to everyone in Austria as early as September. So instead of starting in October - as originally planned - we can start paying out as early as September and thus relieve the people in Austria even earlier," Nehammer said. 300,000 people selected by a random generator would receive the money even earlier, as early as August 25.
How is the bonus paid?
The coming payment will be transferred to the account as money, this applies to employed persons (provided that their data has been updated at the tax office/financial online by June 22) and to pensioners who receive their pension regularly to the account.
To people for whom this does not apply, Sodexo vouchers are sent by mail. These are vouchers that are accepted as a means of payment in many supermarkets and department stores (more than 24,000 acceptance points throughout Austria). Alternatively, the vouchers can be exchanged for cash at Post-Bank99.
Federal Chancellery of Austria