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2025 will be marked by an economic downturn, crises, and global warming. But there is also plenty to celebrate, such as the anniversaries of the end of the Second World War, the State Treaty, and Austria’s accession to the EU. Citizens will face many changes, such as introducing a deposit on cans and plastic, new teleworking regulations, and standardized chargers. Many things will become more expensive, but salaries and social benefits will also increase.
As always, the benchmark for wages, salaries, and pensions was last year’s inflation. In the public sector, there will be an increase of 3.5 percent next year, and in the retail sector, it is 3.3 percent. An increase of 4 percent was agreed upon in the social economy and 4.1 percent in the railroad sector. Pensions up to the ASVG maximum pension will increase by 4.6 percent, and social and family benefits will also rise by 4.6 percent.
Gas and electricity will become more expensive
Gas and electricity bills will rise noticeably in 2025, partly due to increasing grid costs and partly because the full amount of levies that have been reduced will be applied again, and the electricity price break will expire. Each household will have to pay several hundred euros more. Municipal services and fees will also become more expensive, and driving—due to the higher CO2 tax and the more expensive highway toll sticker—and rail travel will also cost more.
Introducing the one-way deposit system for plastic bottles and aluminium cans is probably a major change in people’s everyday lives. A deposit of 25 cents is payable per item. The money is returned to the retailer. The aim is to increase the Austrian recycling rate. Working away from the company is no longer only possible in your home office; the extended term “teleworking” also allows this to be done with family members or in a coffee house.
Repairable cell phones
Smartphones will have to be more durable and repairable, with an EU-wide regulation coming into force in June. Standardized chargers will also become mandatory from 28 December 2024. Real-time transfers are coming to the banking sector. Banks will have to receive them as early as January. However, it will take until 9 October before they are available to customers across the board—and free of charge. Real estate loans will become more affordable again because the KIM regulation, with its strict lending rules, expires at the end of the year.
People are facing additional costs in the healthcare sector, as amalgam is being banned as a dental filling material throughout the EU without health insurance companies and doctors in Austria having agreed on an adequate replacement covered by health insurance.
Eco-friendly mileage allowance
In the tax area, income tax brackets will be adjusted to inflation. The mileage allowance will be changed; environmentally friendly behavior will be better rewarded. In criminal law, new regulations on the seizure of data carriers such as cell phones or laptops will come into force; court approval is now required. Victims and defendants will be granted earlier access to files.
In education, the training of primary school teachers is becoming more practical with three bachelor’s and two master’s degree courses. A final paper can be submitted instead of a pre-academic paper in the AHS for the first time.
- source: APA/picture: Image by ????♡????♡???? Julita ????♡????♡???? from Pixabay
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