After the climate bonus had been significantly increased in 2022 due to inflation, the initially planned system with regional differentiation is being reintroduced this year. A distinction will be made between the four categories.
Depending on where you live, you will receive 110, 150, 185 or 220 euros from the beginning of September, the National Council decided on Wednesday with the votes of the ÖVP and the Greens.
Compared to 500 euros for adults and 250 euros for children in the previous year, the climate bonus is much lower this year. The actual amount depends on the place of residence. The better the public transport and infrastructure, the more down the payment.
Automatic payment
The municipal categories were drawn up by Statistik Austria – in the process, the Viennese districts were now also considered separately, and those outside the Gürtel were better off with 40 euros more. The amount of the respective regional compensation is to be tracked after entering the different postcodes at klimabonus.gv.at. Payment will be made automatically.
The SPÖ criticized the determination of the amount via the postcode instead of according to social criteria. The FPÖ voted against it because they fundamentally rejected the CO2 tax and the redistribution via the climate bonus, as was said in the debate. The NEOS also objected to this. Another new feature in 2023 is that prisoners will no longer receive a climate bonus; the Freedom Party, however, also wanted to exclude persons entitled to asylum.
The Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) emphasized that persons not legally residing in Austria are excluded from receiving the bonus. The Greens stressed that most people received more climate bonuses than they paid in CO2 tax.
Also, with coalition votes, a special allocation of 14.4 million euros for “Licht ins Dunkel” was passed. On the occasion of the campaign’s 50th anniversary, the government had promised in autumn to double donations to “Licht ins Dunkel” received between 18 November and 24 December 2022. The money may only be used to support projects for people with disabilities and social disadvantages.
The decision to reallocate funds for the parliamentary renovation was unanimous because it could cost more than budgeted due to the consequences of Corona and inflation. In principle, the planned maximum costs of 422.6 million may be exceeded by a maximum of three per cent. Covid had already been claimed as an exception.
Now a cost overrun is also possible due to other global crisis developments. The money for this can be taken from the parliamentary budget, whereby, above all, funds are to be used that were not needed for the alternative quarters during the reconstruction.
- Source: krone.at/picture: klimabonus.gv.at.
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