Pensions: 244,000 pensioners no longer have to pay taxes

Around 244,000 pensioners will no longer have to pay taxes this year because they will benefit from the increase in the basic tax allowance. This was announced by a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance, who was the first to do so Southgerman newspaper reported. At the same time, 114,000 pensioners are coming after the pension increase in July new as a taxpayer added.

“Taken together, around 6.3 million people would remain in the “taxpayers with pension income” category in 2024,” said the spokesman. In total there are around 21 million pensioners in Germany.

The basic tax allowance applies to all taxpayers and refers to the annual income up to which no tax has to be paid. To compensate for inflation, it was increased by 696 euros to 11,604 euros at the turn of the year. Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is aiming for an even larger increase retroactively – this is currently still being discussed within the traffic light coalition. According to the spokesman, this is not yet taken into account in the Finance Ministry’s figures.

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Pensions in Germany rise by 4.57 percent as of July 1st. The taxation of pensions was changed in a reform in 2004. Gradually, an ever larger part of the pension taxable, while contributions during the professional phase are tax-free. The later the pension starts, the higher the taxable portion of pension income. Many pensions therefore remain tax-free if the pensioners have no further income.