The most visible January price increase, expressed in euros and cents, affected cigarettes, gasoline, and beverages sold in disposable containers. The latter, apparently, will take a long time to sort out: retail enterprises only promise to streamline the recycling system and the payment of deposits for cans and bottles, without specifying deadlines. Naturally, the absence of uniform rules for “container return” will hit the consumer’s pocket more than the natural laziness inherent in a certain segment of the population, who do not know where to take the empty container, each of which, having found its final resting place in the trash can, will cost them 25 or 50 cents.
You will also have to pay a couple of extra cents for the pleasure of having a smoke after a drink. The ex-factory price of each cigarette has increased by 0.01 euro since January 1 - seemingly not much, but when calculated per pack or carton, it is noticeable. The price of cigarettes in vending machines has not changed, but this is not the result of an economic miscalculation and not a gift to smokers - each pack now contains one fewer “poisonous stick”. Healthy lifestyle advocates rejoice, while nicotine-dependent citizens, increasingly turning into outcasts of society, console themselves only with the fact that they are paying money not only for smoke, but also for strengthening internal security measures. Let us recall that the cigarette tax was introduced last year at the initiative of Interior Minister Otto Schily, who was confident that the collected money would be enough to implement the “anti-terrorism package”, and gave rise to the slogan “I smoke for security!”
People in Germany have long been accustomed to constant jumps in gasoline prices. Reports of record-low prices at gas stations in one or another federal state periodically delight. This, however, is a phenomenon from the realm of improvisation, while the current increase is a consequence of the entry into force of the fifth (and last!) stage of the ecological tax reform, as a result of which a liter of gasoline became more expensive by 3.6 cents (including VAT). The tax on gas under the same reform has been increased from 3.50 to 5.50 euros per megawatt/hour.
Once again the question arises: isn’t it simpler to walk? In light of some government initiatives, this is by no means rhetorical. Since walks in the fresh air can confidently be classified as the embodiment of the idea of a “healthy lifestyle”, and they can turn out to be a very profitable business for the leisurely strolling former motorist: most health insurance funds have decided to follow the example of BARMER and introduce a “bonus” for citizens who are conscious of their health. Those who have quit smoking and drinking alcohol, lost weight, and taken up sports can expect partial or full compensation for medication costs (the co-payment per package today is from 4 to 5 euros), massage (15% of the total bill), and hospital stays (9 euros per day). The question of exactly how the conscientiousness of individual citizens will be checked is in the development stage; in particular, the possibility of introducing hair analysis to detect nicotine and providing each insured person with a special card, similar to the current dental Bonusheft, for obtaining relevant records of medical check-ups, is mentioned. But Health Minister Ulla Schmidt places her main hope on the vigilant control of “family” doctors, from whom, in her opinion, patients will in the near future have to obtain referrals to specialists, instead of going directly to a surgeon or ophthalmologist.
For those who are not yet ready to change their lifestyle, a small consolation will be the fact that health insurance funds are henceforth forbidden to raise contribution rates - except in cases of possible bankruptcy. And the Association of Health Insurance Funds intends to plug the existing hole of hundreds of millions of euros by raising the minimum income threshold from 3,375 to 3,825 euros for those wishing to switch from state insurance to private.
The co-payment for dental prosthetics will be gradually reduced (from 14.4% to 12.4%) with the aim of being reduced to zero by 2014.
State subsidies for house construction are limited to 1,000 euros per year plus 800 euros per child over eight years.
The implementation of the tax reform has been postponed - in the name of raising funds to combat phenomena no less dangerous than terrorism - natural disasters: 6.6 billion euros out of the 7.1 billion needed to restore the areas flooded last summer will be taken from the pockets of taxpayers, who had been promised relief from the burden of the finance department’s levies since 2003. There will be no increase, as previously planned, in the tax-free income threshold (Freibetrag), and it will remain at the same level - 7,235 euros per family (instead of the coveted 7,426). The reduction of VAT on flowers, dental prosthetics, agricultural products, and international flights from 16% to 7% has been postponed to April. It is also possible that, in the event of a further deterioration in the foreign policy situation, there may be a general increase in VAT, similar to that observed in 1991, when Germany’s multi-billion-euro share in the Gulf War resulted in an increase in VAT from 14% to 15%.
The funeral benefit (Sterbegeld) has been halved - for the insured person it will now be 525 euros, for a family member - 262.50 euros. Contributions to pension insurance funds have been increased to 19.5%.
Penalties are being introduced for unemployed people who, without good reason, are late in submitting documents to the labor exchange - from 7 to 50 euros per day.
But, apparently, one cannot consider all the above-mentioned points as real reasons for frustration. At least, the New Year's reports on changes in prices and tariffs begin not with them, but with a more joyful message - about the reduction of postal tariffs of the monopolist Deutsche Post. A stamp for a standard letter weighing up to 20 grams will cost 55 cents instead of 56, for a letter up to 500 grams - 1.44 euros instead of 1.53, a postcard - 45 cents instead of 51. Those wishing to exchange old stamps for new ones can do so completely free of charge until June 30, by sticking them on a sheet of paper and sending them to the central office of Deutsche Post in Frankfurt (for just 1.44 euros, naturally). One can hope that this pleasant innovation will not be "eaten up" by the costs of mail forwarding (in case of moving or vacation): this service, which has been free until now, is now priced at 14.80 euros for 6 months or 24.80 for a year.
According to a study by the Emnid institute, 26% of Germany's population named world peace as their cherished wish on New Year's Eve. 41% turned out to be not so conscientious and wished themselves an increase in income. At the same time, 72% reported abandoning plans to make large purchases in the coming year. And it is understandable: now is not the time for new cars, because the list of the next victims of the government's pricing policy includes the favorite drink, coffee, whose price was record low in December (2.30-2.90 euros per pound) and should rise, according to experts from the Association of the Coffee Industry, by 35%. Now those are people who know how to make wishes professionally.