Innovations through the Citizen's Income Act (2)

Income

• Increase in income allowances for young people (under-25s)
  • Holiday job for pupils under 25 years of age is completely free of charge (§ 11a Para. 7 SGB II, § 82 Para. 6 S. 1 SGB XII).
  • New basic allowance of € 520 (instead of the allowance of € 100) for earned income of pupils, students, trainees and BuFDi's (§ 11b para. 2a SGB II; § 82 para. 6 p. 4 SGB XII)
  • Bridging allowance up to three months after school education (§ 11b para. 2a no. 11 SGB II)
• Changes in the employment allowances (SGB II only)
  • For the range from 520 EUR to 1000 EUR, the allowance is raised to 30 %, previously 20 %. Maximum improvement with full utilisation of the income range: 48 €. (§ 11b para. 3 p. 2 SGB II, from 1.7.2023)
• Maternity benefit (usually 6 weeks before and 8 weeks after birth, paid by statutory health insurance) is not taken into account (§ 11a Para. 1 No. 5 and 6 SGB II, § 82 Para. 1 No. 5 SGB XII).
• Income from inheritance is not to be taken into account as income (§ 11a para. 1 no. 7 SGB II, § 82 para. 1 p. 2 no. 9 SGB XII) / Previously one-time income and to be distributed over 6 months.
• Annual amounts for income from honorary office, exercise leader activity and expense allowances of € 3,000 per year / previously € 250 per month (§ 11a par. 1 no. 5 SGB II; § 82 par. 1 no. 8 SGB XII)
• As a rule, one-off income is only taken into account as income in the month of inflow. / Previously one-off income and to be distributed over 6 months. Additional payments of social benefits are still to be spread over six months. (only in SGB II, § 11 para. 2 and 3 SGB II)

Procedure

Transitional provision: Until the end of June 2023, the Job Centres may also use the term unemployment benefit II or social benefit for the term citizen's allowance (§ 65 para. 9 SGB II). This means that notices that do not yet contain the new name do not violate current law.

Start of the procedure

Benefits under Book II of the Social Code (previously mainly Hartz 4) are provided on application. The application is not bound to any form (§ 9 SGB X in conjunction with § 37 Para. 1 S. 1 SGB II). Any written, oral or telephonic statement that indicates a request for benefits is an effective application. A handwritten signature is not required (LSG NRW 14.9.2017 - L 19 AS 360/17). Therefore, the application can also be made "unwritten" by e-mail, fax, etc.

Effect of an application in SGB II (so far mainly Hartz 4)

• An SGB II application is effective back to the first day of the month (§ 37 Para. 2 S. 2 SGB II).
• An SGB II application includes all legal entitlement benefits, insofar as these do not have to be applied for separately. The included legal entitlement benefits can be claimed retroactively from the date of application, at the most until January of the respective previous year (§ 40 Para. 1 S. 1 SGB II in conjunction with § 48 Para. 1 S. 2 No. 1 SGB X in conjunction with § 44 Para. 4 SGB X in conjunction with § 40 Para. 1 S. 2 No. 2 SGB II).

The following legal entitlement benefits must be applied for separately (§ 37 Para. 1 SGB II):

• Loan in case of unavoidable need (§ 24 Para. 1 SGB II)
• Initial equipment for the flat, including household appliances and clothing (§ 24 Para. 3 No. 1 SGB II)
• Pregnant women's clothing and initial baby equipment (§ 24 Para. 3 No. 2 SGB II)
• Own contribution for purchase and repair of orthopaedic shoes; repair and rent of therapeutic devices and equipment (§ 24 para. 3 no. 1 SGB II), in essence: repair of glasses (BSG 25.10.2017 - B 14 AS 4/17 R)
• Private tuition within the framework of the education and participation package (§ 28 Abs. 5 SGB II):
• Additional needs for cost-intensive food (§ 21 para. 5 SGB II), must also be applied for separately according to BSG case law (BSG 20.2.2014 - B 14 AS 65/12 R).