Corona bonus 2022: who is now entitled to the special payment

Employees can get up to 1,500 euros as a corona bonus – and it’s tax-free. We explain who can hope for the coveted special payment.

Frankfurt – Employers can still pay their employees a corona bonus in the Corona crisis until March 31, 2022. This can be up to 1500 euros and no taxes or social security contributions have to be paid on it. But who can hope for the bonus payment?

Key facts at a glance:

Corona bonus 2022: Who gets the tax-free special payment?

In principle, every employer can decide to pay their employees a corona bonus. However, there is a uniform regulation for the public service of the federal states. Unions and employers agreed on this in November 2021. The employees get a bonus of 1300 euros; According to the trade union ver.di, trainees, dual students and interns receive 650 euros. Only Hesse does it differently: Employees there should receive 1000 euros, trainees 500 euros – slightly less than in the rest of Germany. The bonus is to be paid out no later than the fee for March 2022.

The regulation affects, for example, employees in state authorities, university clinics, schools, daycare centers, the police and fire brigade as well as road maintenance and waste disposal companies. Whether civil servants get a corona bonus depends on the respective federal state. In Hesse, for example, civil servants get the same corona bonus as pay-scale employees. Bavaria wants to pay its officials a corona bonus of 1,300 euros. There should be no special payment for federal officials, as reported by wa.de.

Corona bonus 2022: tax-free only up to 1500 euros

In order to receive a Corona bonus in 2022, however, there are conditions: Originally, the tax-free special payment was limited to 2020, but the option to do so has been extended. However, this does not mean that employees can receive the bonus paid out several times without paying taxes or social security contributions. If they received the full 1,500 euros last year, the employer can still pay a bonus, but taxes and social security contributions must be deducted from this.

If employees have not yet received the full amount, but only 1000 euros, for example, the employer can pay out a maximum of another 500 euros up to March 31, 2022, free of tax and SV contributions. The following only applies: In the period from March 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022, a total of 1500 euros may be paid free of tax and contributions. It doesn’t matter whether the payment is made once or in installments. It only has to be paid in addition to wages and must also be listed as such in the statement. You do not have to apply for the Corona bonus, it is paid by the employer if they decide to do so.

Corona bonus 2022: Plans for nursing staff are met with criticism

Part-time state employees or mini-jobs also get a Corona bonus, but only on a pro rata basis. According to informationsportal.de, anyone who has several jobs can also receive the special payment from several employers.

Nursing staff should again receive a corona bonus in 2022. The traffic light parties have agreed in their coalition agreement. One billion euros are to be made available. But there are still discussions about the special payment in care. Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach (SPD) suggested that the corona bonus should only be paid to nurses who were under particular stress during the pandemic. However, his proposal met with criticism from the CDU and the left. The German Foundation for Patient Protection also expressed displeasure and feared further frustration among nursing staff.

It is also known from some companies that they are planning a corona bonus for their employees or have already paid it out. According to br.de, these include the Siemens, Adidas and Deutsche Post groups, as well as Volkswagen, Eon and RWE according to the German Press Agency. (Ines Alberti)