The future remains uncertain. That much is certain. Apart from that, there will also be innovations and laws in the new year. These changes in the areas of work and taxes then become important:
The contribution assessment limit and compulsory insurance limit for health insurance companies are increasing
The compulsory insurance limit in statutory health insurance (GKV) increases to 69,300 euros per year (2023 66,600 euros). Employees must have statutory health insurance up to the compulsory insurance limit. If you earn more than this amount, you can switch to private health insurance.
The contribution assessment limit for statutory health insurance rises to 62,100 euros per year (59,850 in 2023). Up to this level of earnings, the income is subject to contributions; contributions no longer have to be paid for earnings beyond this.
The contribution assessment limit for unemployment insurance is also increasing
In unemployment insurance, the contribution assessment limit rises to 7,450 euros per month in the new federal states and to 7,550 euros per month in the old federal states. The contribution rate of 2.6 percent, however, remains unchanged.
More funding and qualification money for training and further education
From April 1, 2024, the law reforming further training will bring a number of innovations from which those who want to qualify and trainees will benefit. For example, future trainees should be given a mobility grant to make it easier for them to accept training places in more distant regions. In the first year of training, trainees receive financial support for two family trips home per month.
Young people who have not yet decided on a career can be supported through a career orientation internship. The employment agencies and job centers should take on this task and provide targeted support and support to young people with career orientation and entry into vocational training.
Additionally, additional qualification money will be introduced. It is intended for companies whose jobs are at risk due to structural change, but which can be retained through targeted further training. In such cases, employers and employees can access the qualification allowance. Regardless of the size of the company or the qualifications of the employees, the training allowance should be paid out to them as a wage replacement while they are released for further training – in the amount of the short-time working allowance of 60 or 67 percent of the net salary. Conversely, companies do not pay a salary, but they do bear the training costs. Employers have the option of topping up the training allowance.
In order to receive the qualification allowance, a minimum of 120 hours of further training is required. The funding period is up to 3.5 years and also enables the acquisition of new qualifying professional qualifications at the same qualification level.
Private health insurance is becoming more expensive
Many people with private health insurance are currently receiving mail from their insurer with sometimes significant premium increases. In private health insurance (PKV), contributions will rise by an average of around seven percent in 2024. Although not all insured persons are affected, in individual cases the increase can even be double-digit. Anyone who cannot afford this financially has a legal right to switch to another insurance plan with similar or lower protection or to increase the deductible. Under certain conditions, it is also possible to return to statutory health insurance, for example through family insurance or taking up an activity subject to insurance. As a rule, insured persons must be under 55 years old.
Maintenance for children of separation is increasing again
Fathers or mothers living separately will have to pay more maintenance to their children in the new year. This results from the new Düsseldorf table, which the family courts use to determine maintenance. This will change on January 1st. The Düsseldorf table is published by the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court.
The minimum maintenance for underage children will then be 480 euros from January 1st until they reach the age of 6 (1st age group) instead of the previous 437 euros, and for the period from the 7th to the age of 12 (2nd age group) it will be 551 euros instead of the previous amount 502 euros and for the period from the age of 13 to adulthood (3rd age group) 645 instead of the previous 588 euros per month.
These amounts correspond to the requirements of the first income group (up to 2100 euros) in the Düsseldorf table. This increase in the minimum maintenance also leads to a change in the requirement rates of the second to tenth income groups in the table. As in the past, they will be increased by 5 percent of the minimum maintenance in the second to fifth income groups and by 8 percent in the sixth to tenth income groups.
The necessary personal use to be left to the person liable for maintenance amounts to 1200 euros for the non-working maintenance debtor (instead of the previous 1120 euros) and for the employed maintenance debtor 1450 euros (instead of the previous 1370 euros). When calculating the necessary deductible, a requirement rate of 563 euros was taken into account, corresponding to the citizen’s allowance.
The requirement rates for adult children will also be increased on January 1, 2024. As in 2023, they are 125 percent of the requirement rates for the 2nd age group, i.e. 688.75 euros. The requirement rate for students who do not live with their parents or one parent remains unchanged compared to 2023 at 930 euros (including 410 euros in rent).
Compensation levy for non-employment of severely disabled people increases
The aim of the legislature is to promote inclusion and offer jobs to more people with severe disabilities. To make this work better, the equalization levy will be adjusted from January 2024: companies in Germany with more than 20 jobs are obliged to fill five percent of their jobs with severely disabled people or people with an equivalent status. If they do not do this, a compensatory levy will be due. Because if you don’t employ people with severe disabilities or don’t employ enough people, you have no or fewer costs, for example to make workplaces accessible to people with disabilities. The compensation levy is also intended to motivate companies to employ more severely disabled people – because they may then save this levy entirely.
Employers who do not employ a single severely disabled person despite the obligation to employ them will have to pay a monthly compensation levy of 720 euros per unoccupied job in 2024. This fourth phase of the equalization levy is being introduced for the first time. The previous fine that threatened non-employment will be abolished.
Depending on the employment rate, the following rates apply:
140 euros with an employment rate of severely disabled people of three percent to less than five percent.
245 euros with an employment rate of severely disabled people of two percent to less than three percent.
360 euros with an annual average employment rate of more than zero percent to less than two percent.
720 euros with an annual average employment rate of zero percent.
The fourth stage of the equalization levy would be payable for the first time on March 31, 2025, when the levy for 2024 is due.
Additional contributions for statutory health insurance are increasing
The average additional contribution that all statutory health insurance companies charge in addition to the general contribution rate of 14.6 percent will rise to 1.7 percent on January 1st. Since 2019, employers and employees have been sharing the additional contribution equally (parity principle). However, the average increase does not per se mean that it will also increase for your health insurance company. The committees of the health insurance companies decide on the actual amount individually. Health insurance companies are not allowed to increase their additional contributions as long as they have more than one month’s expenditure on operating resources and reserves.
Car insurance often becomes more expensive
Many vehicle insurance policies will become more expensive in 2024. As the comparison portal Verivox announced, many providers have increased their contributions for the new year, some significantly. On average, premiums are currently 14 percent higher than last year. Increased loss rates and higher repair costs are cited as the reasons for the increase. In addition, there is a classification into more expensive regional classes for almost six million drivers. Regional classes reflect the damage balance of regions in the liability and comprehensive insurance areas. The more damage caused, the more expensive it will be for individuals in these regions in the future.
It’s worth comparing tariffs regularly: If the insurance premium increases, policyholders then have a four-week right to cancel. So if an insurance company only informed about an increase in November, you can then cancel your vehicle insurance until December.
Higher premiums also for property insurance
Contributions for household contents and building insurance are likely to rise again next year. One reason is the insurers’ still high costs due to the flood disaster in the summer of 2021. In addition, high inflation means that craft, material and construction costs are higher in the event of a claim. “Affected people should keep an eye on their insurance premiums and notice periods and, if necessary, change providers after comparing conditions and premiums,” recommends the North Rhine-Westphalia Consumer Center.
On January 1, 2024, the “Heating Act” (Building Energy Act) comes into force. Owners of a residential property they use themselves then have the option of using credits from Riester contracts (“residential Riester”) to install a heat pump. Applications for the use of a Riester credit can be submitted to the Central Allowance Office for Retirement Assets (ZFA) of the German Pension Insurance Federation from January 1, 2024.
2023-12-31 16:12:45
#change #terms #work #taxes #insurance
