Prize question of the month: Who receives the energy price lump sum?

3 years ago

We imagine a company in Bavaria with about 100 employees, ten of whom are in a mini-job relationship, five employees are currently on parental leave, two in the release phase of partial retirement, another two are sick in continued payment of wages and one employee is in receipt of sick pay, then there is a managing director, two cross-border commuters who are resident in Austria and old commitments are made to four former employees. company pensions are paid out to employees – the rest are, so to speak, completely normal employees.

And, who do you think, who gets the EPP and who doesn’t?!

Well, if this were that easy, it is definitely worth taking a look at the FAQ list of the Federal Ministry of Finance with a tender 18 pages, which was only published in an updated version on 20.07.2022 – after the status of 17.6.2022 was no longer up-to-date. If you think that your exact case can be found as a question, then you will probably be disappointed.

But as always, let’s start from the beginning: Basically, it is very nice to pay a lump sum from the state, which – according to the introduction on the FAQ list – has the following background:

“The energy price lump sum (hereinafter referred to as “EPP”) of 300 euros is intended to relieve those population groups who typically incur travel costs in connection with their income generation and who are heavily burdened in this regard due to the current energy price development. The EPP is socially structured. It is usually taxable, so that the net relief is reduced in accordance with the personal tax burden.”

The EPP is therefore taxable and very quickly it follows from the FAQ that it is another income in tax law and that it is not remuneration in social security according to § 14 SGB IV and in the later part of the FAQ of 20.07.2022 we also learn that the EPP is not attachable. So the wage type can be programmed quickly and should usually be paid out in the month of September. So I could end my contribution here if there were not the following questions to be clarified: Who actually receives the EPP from the employer and what requirements must be met for this?

Eligibility requirements for the energy price lump sum

Of course, this is also very easy to answer, all employees who are fully liable to tax on the cut-off date of September 1, 2022 and are in a 1st employment relationship (tax class I-V) and the employer has a monthly wage tax registration period will also receive the EPP paid out with the September settlement. Super easy, right?

Oh, you ask yourself,

whether the cross-border commuter is subject to unlimited or limited tax liability,
You want to know whether the mini-jobber, whom you pay flat-rate tax, has a 1st employment relationship with you and
whether an employee has any entitlement at all during the release phase of partial retirement –
then someone whispered to you that managing directors of a GmbH & Co. KG were dropped out … and anyway,
what about employees who are exempt from receiving sick pay and receive unemployment benefit or a reduced earning capacity pension – questions upon questions upon questions!!!

And once again, the HR departments are called upon, as if they did not have the complex dynamic regulations of the short-time work allowance, the Infection Protection Act, all other points of the Tax Relief Act and/or the 4th Corona Tax Assistance Act in their bones, they are expected to suffer such madness again. Does anyone really believe that transfer wage types with wage tax returns for the refinancing of the EPP are automatically waiting in the system for their use and will beneficiaries automatically receive the EPP via the employer without further input?

NO, of course not, and all this during the holiday season, when it would be urgently necessary to take a breather, when half of the team is infected with Corona anyway …!

High additional burden in payroll accounting due to EPP

I sound defeatist – well, a little, I admit. However, I wonder why people close to practice are not involved in such – undoubtedly laudable ideas – in order to make the implementation less labor-intensive. In any case, the impression prevails that tax offices will be relieved, employers, tax advisors and service providers will continue to be increasingly burdened – because the time interval from September to the income tax assessment is not so far, so that all claimants – as well as some who will not receive it through their employer – could have had the EPP taken into account directly by the tax office.

That’s not how it is now and we know whining doesn’t help, so, what about our mini-jobbers, managing directors, part-time employees in the leave of absence phase, the employees in receipt of sick pay or with unemployment benefits … Well, I would like to refer you to the FAQs “Energy price lump sum (EPP)” from 20.07.2022 and wish you a lot of fun searching, understanding and implementing correctly.

Payroll accounting with an external service provider relieves you of such issues. Experienced clerks deal with special features in billing and are personal contacts for employees and third parties. Learn more about the service model for your payroll accounting in professional hands at ICS adminservice.

Image Source: AdobeStock Photographer: NINENII

Author

Christiane Droste-Klempp
Guest author

Christiane Droste-Klempp is an independent consultant for the entire area of payroll accounting with a focus on partial retirement, time value accounts and company pension schemes and has been an experienced speaker for payroll accounting and partner and trainer of ICS adminservice GmbH for many years.

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