FAQ
Status: 03/15/2023 12:17 p.m
From today, students in technical school and vocational school classes can apply for the energy price flat rate of 200 euros. The application must be submitted online on a platform developed for this purpose.
A good six months after the announcement, students and technical students should now be able to apply for the long-awaited energy price flat rate of 200 euros. The money is intended to relieve the sharp rise in energy prices.
The traffic light coalition had already agreed on the special payment at the beginning of September 2022. At the time, there was talk of a quick and unbureaucratic payment. Implementing this, however, proved difficult. A quick transfer of the 200 euros was thwarted, among other things, because the account details of all the students and technical students concerned were not available centrally. Let’s start now.
Who can apply?
Around 3.5 million students and technical students who were enrolled at a university or in a technical college as of December 1, 2022 are entitled to the money. A domicile or “habitual abode” in Germany is required. At technical schools, for example, educators, technicians or business economists are trained. The energy price flat rate should neither be taxed nor offset against any social benefits.
Where can the flat-rate energy fee be applied for?
The application must one-time payment200.de be asked. The application platform had been tested in a pilot project with several universities in the past few weeks – according to Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger, it was successful. According to the Saxony-Anhalt Digital Ministry, which was in charge of setting up the platform, the application took an average of three minutes in the test phase.
What do you need for the application?
This requires a so-called BundID account to clearly identify yourself when applying. The account can be created online.
According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, a good 700,000 people had acquired such an ID by the beginning of the week. However, it is unclear how many of these are students or technical students who have only registered because of the energy price flat rate. All citizens can use the account, including for other administrative services.
In addition, applicants need an access code plus pin, which was sent by the university or technical college. In this way, applicants can prove their eligibility, a certificate of enrollment does not have to be uploaded.
Is the one-time payment taxed?
The one-off payment is not subject to income tax and, according to the Federal Ministry of Education, is not taken into account for income-related benefits, social benefits, social security contributions and the collection of costs in child and youth welfare.
When will the money come?
According to the ministry, it is not possible to say when the payment will be made to all those entitled. That depends largely on how quickly the students and technical students submit their applications. With a view to a possible onslaught of applicants in the coming week, the spokesman said: “I think we are well prepared.”