Balance of earned income and property income

The earned income balance is a sub-balance of the current account , which in turn is part of a country's balance of payments .

Earned income includes all income from employment that is paid by residents to foreigners or by foreigners to residents (e.g. for cross-border commuters or for employees who have been in Germany / abroad for less than a year, e.g. seasonal workers). Property income includes all investment income that residents pay to foreigners or receive from foreigners, mainly incoming or outgoing payments of interest and dividends , other income from foreign investments (= foreign investments) and in particular international credit transactions .

If z. B. US investors receive interest payments on their foreign bonds (bonds), this would have to be booked as an incoming payment (i.e. positive) in the balance sheet of the earned and property income of the USA (balance sheet of the earned and property income = factor income ).

On the other hand, interest payments from US borrowers to foreign lenders would be an outgoing payment (i.e. negative) on the balance sheet.

If the earnings and property income ("credit") exceed the earnings and property expenditure ("debit"), one speaks of an active earnings and property balance sheet (passive in the opposite case).