Child benefit in Germany: Before the Bundestag elections in September, the parties competed in election promises . It is a familiar trick to want to please voters who have children.
The Stuttgarter Nachrichten daily wonders which of these will be met and whether the Kindergeld allowance will be increased in 2022 .
Child benefit in Germany in 2022
Kindergeld is a family benefit paid to all people with children who work in Germany. In addition, parents in Germany receive support from the state in the form of a Kinderfreibetrag, a tax-free sum for having children.
The German daily notes that, compared to the previous years, the increase in child benefit in 2019 and 2021 was high. Since 2015, this amount has increased by only two euros a year, in 2019 it was increased by 10 euros per child, and in 2021 by as much as 15 euros.
In 2021, the rates for Kindergeld are as follows:
EUR 219 for the first and second child
EUR 225 for the third child
EUR 250 for each additional child.
Last year, the Kinderfreibetrag was also raised. The tax-free amount for having children in January 2021 increased from EUR 7,812 to EUR 8,388.
Will the parties that are negotiating the formation of a new government in Germany increase child benefits in 2022?
According to the Stuttgarter Nachrichten, the raise may not be announced until the middle of the new year, as it was in the past, although this is only a guess. One thing is certain: parents working in Germany can count on generous financial support from the state all the time. In addition to the Kindergeld, they can also receive a supplement to the Kinderzuschlag child benefit.
The maximum amount that can be received is EUR 160 per month for one child living with the parents / parent in the same household. This money is paid together with the family allowance.
This means that in Germany, a family with three children who are entitled to both the Kindergeld and the Kinderzuschlag supplement to it may receive, from the German state, over 1,000 euros a month to support their children.
Watch out for brokers!
German media warns against portals that offer help in completing and submitting an application for child benefit in Germany.
It is estimated that this year tens of thousands of parents who have applied for the Kindergeld child benefit online may have problems receiving the benefit. It is about the people who submitted the application through various internet portals.
As Focus.de informs, these portals help users to prepare and send the application to the Familienkasse for a fee. As it turns out, most of these applications never reach the offices or are immediately rejected by them for formal reasons.Â
Read more about it: Kindergeld Benefit: Officials warn of the pitfall of applying online
Source: Stuttgarter-nachrichten.de