Housing premium: current income limits

With the housing construction premium, the state supports all those who save money on the purchase, construction or renovation of a property. Those who do not exceed a certain income limit can look forward to an annual grant.

Anyone who applies for the housing construction bonus easily obtains financial support from the state, which, for example, subsidizes home savings. Although the funding amounts are rather small, the general rule is that every euro counts.

So that this premium only benefits those who really need it, certain income limits apply to the housing construction premium. If these are exceeded, the entitlement to funding expires.

What income limits apply to the housing construction premium?

In order to successfully apply for a housing premium, the income of individuals as well as spouses or life partners must not exceed certain specified sums.

It is currently the case that all those who are eligible for the subsidy and who have a taxable income of up to 25, 600 euros per year are entitled to the subsidy. Married or registered life partners have a higher income limit: they can earn double the amount, i.e. no more than 51, 200 euros per year.

From January 1, 2021, however, these limits will be raised - this will enable a larger group of people to apply for state funding, for example for the building society contract. From 2021, the income limit for individuals will be 35, 000 euros per year. Married or life partners can then together have a taxable annual income of up to 70, 000 euros.

An overview of the funding limits for the housing construction premium:

	Maximum limit of to taxing Income per year until December 31, 2020	Maximum limit of to taxing Income per year from 01.01.2021
Individual	25, 600 euros	35, 000 euros
Married / life partner *	51, 200 euros	70, 000 euros

* Jointly assessed spouses and jointly assessed life partners in accordance with the civil partnership law.

Housing premium: Which income is decisive?

Note that the income limit for the housing premium is not the annual salary, but only the annual taxable income. This can make a significant difference, especially for families with children, since the taxable amount is, due to possible tax allowances, well below what is stated on your pay slip. It is therefore worthwhile to do the exact calculation!

In the case of childless persons, the taxable income due to pension expenses, advertising costs and other tax-deductible costs is often well below the net salary. Here, too, building society savers should take a close look and check whether they are entitled to the housing construction premium for their building society contract.

The current tax assessment reveals how high the taxable sum of a year was and whether it makes sense to apply for the housing construction premium as a result. The taxable amount is shown here after all deductions.

Determine taxable income without tax assessment

The required tax return for the past year is not always available. Anyone who still wants to determine the taxable income in order to be able to estimate whether the housing premium is eligible as a subsidy to the home savings contract can find help on the Internet: So-called tax simulators use various information to calculate how much money from the salary ultimately remains as taxable income. This means that interested parties can calculate relatively precisely whether or not they are entitled to the funding even without a tax assessment.

How much money the state then pays as support on request differs in each individual case. Read here how to calculate the amount of the housing premium.

Nadine Kleber