After the difficult financial year 2022, there is a ray of hope for savers and investors: For the first time in over 20 years, the tax-free allowance for capital gains is increasing. Our tables show who this can really pay off for.
Instead of 801 euros, the allowance, also known as the savings allowance, will be 1,000 euros per person from January 2023. Investors and savers benefit more from the compound interest effect of their investments – the difference can even be more than 13,000 euros, as the digital asset manager growney calculated exclusively for FOCUS online.
In concrete terms, the increase means that anyone who has exhausted the previous tax-free allowance of EUR 801 (couples: EUR 1,602) per year will have to pay less capital gains tax from 2023. After all, it is 25 percent plus 5.5 percent solidarity surcharge and, if necessary, 8 or 9 percent on the tax amount and is payable for all income from the investment, i.e. for interest, dividends, price gains and for the income from life or pension insurance. Due to the higher allowance, an additional 199 euros (couples: 398 euros) are tax-free.
“This is good news for savers and investors, because the systematic accumulation of assets is more worthwhile thanks to the higher tax-free allowance. The change is long overdue support for private asset accumulation and additional old-age security,” says Thimm Blickensdorf from the management of the digital asset manager growney.
The effect is particularly large if the tax savings are directly reinvested. This is automatically the case with most savings plans, accumulating funds or ETFs. This compound interest effect also occurs with call money or savings accounts – with fixed-term deposits, this depends on the structure of the investment. Advantage: The additional money available due to the higher exemption amount can generate additional income year after year. The small increase can result in a considerable amount for your own wealth accumulation.
The sample calculations show how differently savers and investors benefit:
Important for all savers and investors: Existing exemption orders are automatically adjusted to the new exemption amount by all banks and savings banks. This also applies if the previous allowance of 801 euros per person is divided between several institutes. Then banks and savings banks are obliged to increase the respective exemption order by 24.844 percent.
If there is no exemption order, the capital gains tax of 25 percent plus 5.5 percent solidarity surcharge must first be deducted from the tax. If the income is below the tax-free allowance, you can have the tax office reimburse you for the excess taxes you have paid with your income tax return (Annex KAP).
The same applies if the exemption amount is distributed unfavorably to accounts and custody accounts across various exemption orders. Then there is an unnecessary tax deduction, and the refund can be made with the tax return.
Expert Blickensdorf: “Anyone who has several exemption orders should definitely check and adjust the distribution for 2023. As a rule, a lower yield can be expected for an overnight money account than for an ETF portfolio. Anyone who optimally distributes the allowance avoids tax deductions and can thus benefit more from the compound interest effect of their investment income.”
