The governing parties SPD, Greens and FDP want to extend the home office flat rate of five euros per day for the coming year.
(Photo: dpa)
Berlin The tax relief promised by not a few parties during the election campaign will not exist – not in 2022 and, according to the coalition agreement, probably not in the further course of the new legislature.
But that doesn’t mean everything stays as it is in tax law. On the one hand, certain key tax figures will be adjusted according to schedule in 2022; on the other hand, the grand coalition has initiated some changes. And finally, special corona rules will gradually expire, at least according to the current status.
As every year, the basic income tax allowance will also increase in 2022. The first 9,948 euros a taxpayer earns remain tax-free. That is 204 euros more than this year.
In addition, the income tax rate will be shifted slightly to the right in order to avoid the inflation-related “cold progression”. The top tax rate of 42 percent will apply from 58,597 euros in the future, the limit will increase by around one percent – good business for the tax authorities in view of around three percent inflation in the year that is coming to an end.
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The reason for this actually far too small adjustment is that the tariff shift was already decided in autumn 2020 and at that time the government was only assuming 1.17 percent inflation this year. What a mistake, there will probably be a three in front of the decimal point.
“Corona bonus” until the end of March
Child benefit and child allowance will remain unchanged in 2022. The relief amount for single parents also remains at EUR 4008; Due to the corona crisis, it was initially temporarily increased accordingly for 2020 and 2021. This time limit has since been canceled.
Employees can receive monthly tax-free benefits in kind from their employer. The previous monthly exemption limit increases from 44 to 50 euros. It is important to note that the monthly values must not be added to the year as a whole. If the exemption limit is exceeded even slightly, the entire donation is taxable in that month – in contrast to an exemption.
Since the corona outbreak, employers have been able to pay their employees a “corona bonus” free of tax and social security. The deadline has been extended twice since its introduction and now runs until the end of March 2022. The prerequisite is that the payment is made in addition to the regular salary. There are no restrictions for certain professions or industries.
It is uncertain what will become of the home office flat rate introduced for 2020. This is limited to the end of 2021, but the governing parties have agreed to extend this tax lump sum of five euros per day for the coming year. On the other hand, the tax exemption for employer’s subsidies for short-time working allowances should not be extended.
The home office flat rate introduced for 2020 is limited to the end of 2021.
(Photo: imago images / Westend61)
It will therefore finally expire at the end of this year. The reduced sales tax rate for gastronomy will remain in place until the end of 2022: food, but not drinks, will only be charged at seven percent in 2022, regardless of whether they are eaten on site or taken away.
For many medium-sized companies, 2022 will bring new design opportunities
For all property owners, the New Year is an important date on which the property tax value is determined in the so-called main assessment. It is true that this will only replace the standard value in real estate tax calculations from 2025.
In the course of the coming year, however, all property owners should receive a request from their tax office to submit a property tax return. Required information will be, for example, the size of the property, the type of property, the age and living space of the building, the net rent and the standard land value.
The taxpayers’ association assumes that the tax authorities will set the submission deadline to the end of October 2022. In future, the property tax values will be revised every seven years.
For many medium-sized companies, the year 2022 brings a new design opportunity. Partnerships can be treated like a corporation for tax purposes; under civil law, however, they remain a partnership. The consequences can be very far-reaching – whether and for whom this option is worthwhile depends on the individual case. The low corporate tax rate of just 15 percent can be offset by higher burdens elsewhere.
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