The State Chamber has paved the way for a number of regulations to help citizens and companies in view of the high energy costs. These extend to gas prices, the expansion of renewable energies, gastronomy, short-time work and the possibility of corporate inflation bonuses. The most important decisions:
gas tax
A week after the Bundestag, the Bundesrat also approved the temporary reduction in sales tax on gas deliveries. Accordingly, the tax rate will be temporarily reduced from 19 to 7 percent because of the energy crisis. This should apply until the end of March 2024. In addition, payments by employers to compensate for high inflation are tax-free up to EUR 3,000 by law.
Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner spoke of a first building block that protects people and companies from being overburdened. More steps followed, he said. The federal government has announced a multi-billion defense shield, a central instrument should be a gas price brake.
Energy Legislative Package
In terms of energy supply and renewable energies, an extensive legislative package was approved to reduce gas consumption. The framework conditions for the use of biogas and photovoltaics as well as liquefied natural gas systems are to be improved. It is also about accelerating the expansion of the power grid. The Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Michael Kellner, said that with the legislative package, Germany is further separating itself from fossil fuels from Russia, i.e. gas, oil and coal.
gastronomy
Guests can continue to look forward to a low VAT on food. In view of the looming energy crisis in Germany, the Bundesrat has approved that the tax will remain reduced to seven percent until the end of 2023. Beverages are an exception to this.
registry offices
In the future, citizens will be able to communicate electronically with the registry offices more easily. The chamber of the federal states gave the green light to a Bundestag resolution that would allow civil status data to be sent to the responsible registry office via an administrative portal. This then exchanges information with the respective other authority - the data is only recorded once. This means that registry offices can do without paper evidence in certain cases.
testing obligation
Corona is again removed from a list of particularly contagious infectious diseases in the Infection Protection Act, for which an entry ban applies, for example in schools or daycare centers. Covid-19 was only recently added to this list when the new corona rules that came into force on October 1st were passed. There are also the plague, cholera, scabies, measles, rubella and whooping cough.
short-time allowance
Companies and employees can still take advantage of short-time work under simplified conditions until the middle of next year. A legal basis adopted by the Bundestag was approved, which enables the Federal Government to extend the currently applicable, easier access to short-time work benefits by ordinance until mid-2023. It can come into force as planned after it has been signed by the Federal President.
BAFÖG
Students and pupils should be better financially secure in future crises if they lose part-time jobs. Using a so-called emergency mechanism, the government is authorized to open the BAFÖG to students and schoolchildren who would not otherwise receive it in a nationwide emergency situation "which significantly affects the job market for part-time jobs accompanying training". However, according to the law, such a nationwide emergency must have been determined by the Bundestag beforehand by resolution.
KITA fees
The federal states reject parts of the law planned by the federal government for better quality in day-care centers and are calling for improvements. The focus of the criticism is a regulation according to which the parental contributions for day-care center care must in future be graded according to income and the number of children entitled to child benefit. Now it is the turn of the Bundestag.
