Assessment ceiling

The income threshold is a calculation variable in German social security law . It determines the amount up to which the remuneration or pension of a legally insured person is used for contributions to the statutory social insurance. The part of the income that exceeds the respective limit is not taken into account for the calculation of contributions.

There are two different values: one for statutory pension and unemployment insurance , one for statutory health and long-term care insurance .

The assessment ceiling does not have to be the same as the compulsory insurance limit . In Germany, for example, the general compulsory insurance limit in statutory health insurance has been well above the contribution assessment limit since 2003.

In the Austrian social security which has the maximum contribution base a corresponding function .

General

The graphic shows the development of the effective contribution rate in the statutory social insurance in Germany in 2016. Income parts above the contribution assessment ceilings are no longer subject to contributions - the contribution in euros then remains constant regardless of the income level. The way in which the effective contribution rate is calculated as a percentage (contribution divided by gross income) means that the rate is falling (degressive tariff).

The contribution to the statutory pension, unemployment, health and long-term care insurance is calculated as a percentage of the gross wage subject to social insurance. If the gross wage exceeds the assessment ceiling, the insurance premium will not be charged more than this limit. From the time the contribution assessment ceiling is reached, the absolute contributions to the respective insurance remain constant, so that the percentage of gross income falls.

Annual adjustment

The contribution assessment ceilings are adjusted annually by the federal government by ordinance, in the ratio in which the gross wages and salaries per employee ( Section 68 Paragraph 2 Sentence 1 SGB VI) in the previous calendar year to the corresponding gross wages and salaries in the previous calendar year , rounded up to the next higher multiple of € 600 / year or € 50 / month.

In 2003, the income threshold for statutory pension insurance was raised more than once, in deviation from this rule.

Types of insurance

Statutory pension insurance

In the statutory pension insurance, there are different contribution assessment limits for the general and miners' pension insurance. The earlier distinction between workers ' and salaried employees' pension insurance, however, no longer applies.

For the acceding area (referred to as "East" in the table below), a special assessment ceiling applies from 1990, Section 228a Paragraph 1 Sentence 1 No. 2 in conjunction with Annex 2a SGB ​​VI; the rest of the federal territory is referred to as "West" ( Annex 2 SGB ​​VI).

Development of the level of the special annual wage limit in the statutory pension insurance

2020 to 1990
year	general pension insurance				Miners' pension insurance
	per month		yearly		per month		yearly
	west	east	west	east	west	east	west	east
2020	€ 6,900	€ 6,450	0€ 82,800	0€ 77,400	0€ 8,450	€ 7,900	€ 101,400	0€ 94,800
2019	€ 6,700	€ 6,150	0€ 80,400	0€ 73,800	0€ 8,200	€ 7,600	0€ 98,400	0€ 91,200
2018	€ 6,500	€ 5,800	0€ 78,000	0€ 69,600	0€ 8,000	€ 7,150	0€ 96,000	0€ 85,800
2017	€ 6,350	€ 5,700	0€ 76,200	0€ 68,400	0€ 7,850	€ 7,000	0€ 94,200	0€ 84,000
2016	€ 6,200	€ 5,400	0€ 74,400	0€ 64,800	0€ 7,650	€ 6,650	0€ 91,800	0€ 79,800
2015	€ 6,050	€ 5,200	0€ 72,600	0€ 62,400	0€ 7,450	€ 6,350	0€ 89,400	0€ 76,200
2014	€ 5,950	€ 5,000	0€ 71,400	0€ 60,000	0€ 7,300	€ 6,150	0€ 87,600	0€ 73,800
2013	€ 5,800	€ 4,900	0€ 69,600	0€ 58,800	0€ 7,100	€ 6,050	0€ 85,200	0€ 72,600
2012	€ 5,600	€ 4,800	0€ 67,200	0€ 57,600	0€ 6,900	€ 5,900	0€ 82,800	0€ 70,800
2011	€ 5,500		0€ 66,000		0€ 6,750		0€ 81,000
2010		€ 4,650		0€ 55,800	0€ 6,800	€ 5,700	0€ 81,600	0€ 68,400
2009	€ 5,400	€ 4,550	0€ 64,800	0€ 54,600	0€ 6,650	€ 5,600	0€ 79,800	0€ 67,200
2008	€ 5,300	€ 4,500	0€ 63,600	0€ 54,000	0€ 6,550	€ 5,550	0€ 78,600	0€ 66,600
2007	€ 5,250	€ 4,550	0€ 63,000	0€ 54,600	0€ 6,450		0€ 77,400
2006		€ 4,400		0€ 52,800		€ 5,400		0€ 64,800
2005	€ 5,200		0€ 62,400		0€ 6,400		0€ 76,800
2004	€ 5,150	4,350 €	0€ 61,800	0€ 52,200	0€ 6,350	€ 5,350	0€ 76,200	0€ 64,200
2003	€ 5,100	€ 4,250	0€ 61,200	0€ 51,000	0€ 6,250	€ 5,250	0€ 75,000	0€ 63,000
2002	€ 4,500	€ 3,750	0€ 54,000	0€ 45,000	0€ 5,550	€ 4,650	0€ 66,600	0€ 55,800
2001	8,700 DM	7,300 DM	104,400 DM	087,600 DM	10,700 DM	9,000 DM	128,400 DM	108,000 DM
2000	8,600 DM	7,100 DM	103,200 DM	085,200 DM	10,600 DM	8,700 DM	127,200 DM	104,400 DM
1999	8,500 DM	7,200 DM	102,000 DM	086,400 DM	10,400 DM	8,800 DM	124,800 DM	105,600 DM
1998	8,400 DM	7,000 DM	100,800 DM	084,000 DM	10,300 DM	8,600 DM	123,600 DM	103,200 DM
1997	8,200 DM	7,100 DM	098,400 DM	085,200 DM	10,100 DM	8,700 DM	121,200 DM	104,400 DM
1996	8,000 DM	6,800 DM	096,000 DM	081,600 DM	09,800 DM	8,400 DM	117,600 DM	100,800 DM
1995	7,800 DM	6,400 DM	093,600 DM	076,800 DM	09,600 DM	7,800 DM	115,200 DM	093,600 DM
1994	7,600 DM	5,900 DM	091,200 DM	070,800 DM	09,400 DM	7,300 DM	112,800 DM	087,600 DM
1993	7,200 DM	5,300 DM	086,400 DM	063,600 DM	08,900 DM	6,600 DM	106,800 DM	078,000 DM
1992	6,800 DM	4,800 DM	081,600 DM	057,600 DM	08,400 DM	4,800 DM	100,800 DM	057,600 DM
1991 2nd half	6,500 DM	3,400 DM	078,000 DM	040,800 DM	08,000 DM	3,400 DM	096,000 DM	040,800 DM
1991 1st half		3,000 DM		036,000 DM		3,000 DM		036,000 DM
1990 2nd half	6,300 DM	2,700 DM	075,600 DM	032,400 DM	07,800 DM	2,700 DM	093,600 DM	032,400 DM
1990 1st half

in the years 1959–1989
year	general pension insurance				Miners' pension insurance
	per month		yearly		per month		yearly
	west	east	west	east	west	east	west	east
1959	00800 DM		009,600 DM		01,000 DM		012,000 DM
1960	00850 DM		010,200 DM
1961	00900 DM		010,800 DM		01,100 DM		013,200 DM
1962	00950 DM		011,400 DM
1963	1,000 DM		012,000 DM		01,200 DM		014,400 DM
1964	1,100 DM		013,200 DM		01,400 DM		016,800 DM
1965	1,200 DM		014,400 DM		01,500 DM		018,000 DM
1966	1,300 DM		015,600 DM		01,600 DM		019,200 DM
1967	1,400 DM		016,800 DM		01,700 DM		020,400 DM
1968	1,600 DM		019,200 DM		01,900 DM		022,800 DM
1969	1,700 DM		020,400 DM		02,000 DM		024,000 DM
1970	1,800 DM		021,600 DM		02,100 DM		025,200 DM
1971	1,900 DM		022,800 DM		02,300 DM		027,600 DM
1972	2,100 DM		025,200 DM		02,500 DM		030,000 DM
1973	2,300 DM		027,600 DM		02,800 DM		033,600 DM
1974	2,500 DM		030,000 DM		03,100 DM		037,200 DM
1975	2,800 DM		033,600 DM		03,400 DM		040,800 DM
1976	3,100 DM		037,200 DM		03,800 DM		045,600 DM
1977	3,400 DM		040,800 DM		04,200 DM		050,400 DM
1978	3,700 DM		044,400 DM		04,600 DM		055,200 DM
1979	4,000 DM		048,000 DM		04,800 DM		057,600 DM
1980	4,200 DM		050,400 DM		05,100 DM		061,200 DM
1981	4,400 DM		052,800 DM		05,400 DM		064,800 DM
1982	4,700 DM		056,400 DM		05,800 DM		069,600 DM
1983	5,000 DM		060,000 DM		06,100 DM		073,200 DM
1984	5,200 DM		062,400 DM		06,400 DM		076,800 DM
1985	5,400 DM		064,800 DM		06,700 DM		080,400 DM
1986	5,600 DM		067,200 DM		06,900 DM		082,800 DM
1987	5,700 DM		068,400 DM		07,100 DM		085,200 DM
1988	6,000 DM		072,000 DM		07,300 DM		087,600 DM
1989	6,100 DM		073,200 DM		07,500 DM		090,000 DM

Statutory unemployment insurance

The contribution assessment limits in unemployment insurance correspond to those in general pension insurance ( Section 341 (4) SGB III).

Statutory health and long-term care insurance

According to Section 223 (3) SGB V and Section 55 (2) SGB XI, the contribution assessment limit in statutory health insurance and in social long-term care insurance corresponds to the special annual wage limit that is regulated in Section 6 (6) SGB V. In addition to this upper limit, the minimum contribution assessment base serves as the lower limit for calculating contributions.

While the contribution assessment limit determines the amount up to which the income of the insured person is liable to pay contributions, the annual income limit is decisive for the question of the amount up to which employees are compulsorily insured. The annual income limit is therefore also called the compulsory insurance limit .

The special annual wage limit according to Section 6 (7) SGB V, from which the contribution assessment limit for statutory health and long-term care insurance is derived, only applies to workers and employees who were already privately insured on December 31, 2002. For all others, the general annual income limit according to Section 6 (6) of the Social Code Book V applies. This limit is higher than the income threshold.

Development of the level of the special annual wage limit in health and long-term care insurance

in the years 1960–1999
year	per month	yearly	Change vs. Previous year
1960	637.50 DM	7,650 DM
1961	675.00 DM	8,100 DM	+ 5.88%
1962	712.50 DM	8,550 DM	+ 5.56%
1963	750.00 DM	9,000 DM	+ 5.26%
1964	825.00 DM	9,900 DM	+ 10.00%
1965	900.00 DM	10,800 DM	+ 9.09%
1966	975.00 DM	11,700 DM	+ 8.33%
1967	1,050.00 DM	12,600 DM	+ 7.69%
1968	1,200.00 DM	14,400 DM	+ 14.29%
1969	1,275.00 DM	15,300 DM	+ 6.25%
1970	1,350.00 DM	16,200 DM	+ 5.88%
1971	1,425.00 DM	17,100 DM	+ 5.56%
1972	1,575.00 DM	18,900 DM	+ 10.53%
1973	1,725.00 DM	20,700 DM	+ 9.52%
1974	1,875.00 DM	22,500 DM	+ 8.70%
1975	2,100.00 DM	25,200 DM	+ 12.00%
1976	2,325.00 DM	27,900 DM	+ 10.71%
1977	2,550.00 DM	30,600 DM	+ 9.68%
1978	2,775.00 DM	33,300 DM	+ 8.82%
1979	3,000.00 DM	36,000 DM	+ 8.11%
1980	3,150.00 DM	37,800 DM	+ 5.00%
1981	3,300.00 DM	39,600 DM	+ 4.76%
1982	3,525.00 DM	42,300 DM	+ 6.82%
1983	3,750.00 DM	45,000 DM	+ 6.38%
1984	3,900.00 DM	46,800 DM	+ 4.00%
1985	4,050.00 DM	48,600 DM	+ 3.85%
1986	4,200.00 DM	50,400 DM	+ 3.70%
1987	4,275.00 DM	51,300 DM	+ 1.79%
1988	4,500.00 DM	54,000 DM	+ 5.26%
1989	4,575.00 DM	54,900 DM	+ 1.67%
1990	4,725.00 DM	56,700 DM	+ 3.28%
1991	4,875.00 DM	58,500 DM	+ 3.17%
1992	5,100.00 DM	61,200 DM	+ 4.62%
1993	5,400.00 DM	64,800 DM	+ 5.88%
1994	5,700.00 DM	68,400 DM	+ 5.56%
1995	5,850.00 DM	70,200 DM	+ 2.63%
1996	6,000.00 DM	72,000 DM	+ 2.56%
1997	6,150.00 DM	73,800 DM	+ 2.50%
1998	6,300.00 DM	75,600 DM	+ 2.44%
1999	6,375.00 DM	76,500 DM	+ 1.19%

from the year 2000
year	per month	yearly	Change vs. Previous year
2000	6,450.00 DM	77,400 DM	+ 1.18%
2001	6,525.00 DM	78,300 DM	+ 1.16%
2002	€ 3,375	€ 40,500	+ 1.38%
2003	€ 3,450	€ 41,400	+ 2.22%
2004	€ 3,487.50	€ 41,850	+ 1.07%
2005	€ 3,525	€ 42,300	+ 1.09%
2006	€ 3,562.50	€ 42,750	+ 1.05%
2007	€ 3,562.50	€ 42,750	+ 0.00%
2008	€ 3,600	€ 43,200	+ 1.07%
2009	€ 3,675	€ 44,100	+ 2.08%
2010	€ 3,750	€ 45,000	+ 2.04%
2011	€ 3,712.50	€ 44,550	- 1.00%
2012	€ 3,825	€ 45,900	+ 3.03%
2013	€ 3,937.50	€ 47,250	+ 2.94%
2014	€ 4,050	€ 48,600	+ 2.86%
2015	€ 4,125	€ 49,500	+ 1.85%
2016	€ 4,237.50	€ 50,850	+ 2.73%
2017	4,350 €	€ 52,200	+ 2.65%
2018	€ 4,425	€ 53,100	+ 1.72%
2019	€ 4,537.50	€ 54,450	+ 2.54%
2020	€ 4,687.50	€ 56,250	+ 3.30%

Tax implications

Since 2004 the tax lump sum has again been dependent, among other things, on the amount of the contribution assessment ceiling.

background

A redistribution between low-income and higher-income workers was not planned when the social security system was designed, which is why the amount of contributions paid in, for example in pension insurance, determined the amount of benefits paid out. This originally also applied to the health insurance companies, whose expenses were originally almost 95 percent used to pay out the sickness benefit (depending on the payment amount ) . In the case of people with an income above the contribution assessment ceiling, it was assumed that they do not need any protection from the social security funds or at least no protection beyond this contribution.

criticism

In the case of health insurances, it is criticized that contributions are levied depending on the earned income for almost the same benefits (exception: sickness benefit). Therefore, in some cases, contributions that are equivalent to average risk ( lump sums , derogatory also called “head premium”) are advocated.

The contribution assessment limit causes different financial burdens for families depending on the division of gainful employment: For example, spouses with the same family income, provided that it is above the assessment limit, pay different contributions in one and two-earner families , since the total contributions due are based on the distribution of income the spouses depend. More generally, due to the contribution assessment ceiling, married couples with unequally high incomes, provided that one income is above and the other below the contribution assessment ceiling, are favored over married couples with two equally high incomes.

In 2016, the former Family Minister Renate Schmidt , together with the author Helma Sick , called for the income threshold to be abolished or at least doubled and the additional money to be invested in family policy.

See also

• Assessment base
• Calculation variables of the social insurance
• Compulsory insurance
• Exemption from insurance
• Compulsory insurance limit

Web links

Wiktionary: Contribution ceiling  - explanations of meanings, word origin, synonyms, translations

• German Federal Pension Insurance
• German pension insurance

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Contribution Rate Protection Act of December 23, 2002
2. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Regulation 2020
3. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Ordinance 2019
4. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Ordinance 2018
5. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Ordinance 2017
6. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Ordinance 2016
7. ↑ ^{a b} §§ 3 and 4 Paragraph 2 of the Social Insurance Calculation Size Ordinance 2015
8. ↑ Concise Dictionary of Economics (HdWW), Volume 3, Willi Albers (Ed.), 1981, ISBN 3-525-10258-5 , p. 331
9. ^ Friedrich Breyer, Peter Zweifel, Mathias Kifmann: Health Economics , Springer-Verlag, 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-30894-9 . P. 236 .
10. ↑ Reading with Federal Family Minister a. D .: A man is not a pension plan. (No longer available online.) Wochenblatt.de, November 11, 2016, archived from the original on November 18, 2016 ; Retrieved November 17, 2016 . 

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