Active pension: Pensioners will soon be able to earn up to 2,000 euros tax-free!

Active pension: Pensioners will soon be able to earn up to 2,000 euros tax-free!

The federal government is planning a comprehensive pension reform, which was presented in a current emergency program. The aim of this reform is to secure the pension landscape in Germany sustainably and to create incentives for longer working hours. The five central points of the reform include ensuring that the pension level is maintained until 2031, the completion of the mother's pension, a second company pension strengthening law and the introduction of the active pension and the early start pension. These comprehensive measures aim to ensure the stability of the pension system and promote social cohesion, such as Focus reported.

Active pensions are receiving particular attention, and their exact meaning is currently causing confusion. While some see it as tax-free income for pensioners, CDU politician Hendrik Hoppestedt argues that the aim is to postpone retirement. This opinion was corrected by Carsten Linnemann, also CDU. An important piece of information from the coalition agreement states that retirement without deductions remains possible after 45 years of contributions. The active pension creates incentives to voluntarily work longer without raising the statutory retirement age.

Active pension in detail

From January 1, 2026, pensioners who work beyond their normal retirement age can earn up to 2,000 euros per month tax-free. As a result of this regulation, the tax allowance for pensioners will increase from currently around 12,000 euros to 24,000 euros, almost doubling. The aim of active pensions is not only to relieve the burden on pensioners, but also to stabilize pension insurance and make a contribution to the labor market by ensuring that experienced employees are available for longer. According to estimates, this measure could bring about an annual relief of up to 2.5 billion euros for pension insurance T Online.

A crucial aspect of the active pension is the lifting of the so-called pre-employment ban, which previously made it difficult for pensioners to return to their former employer. However, there are some exceptions: pensioners who receive basic security or survivors' pensions are excluded from the regulations, but a later review to include these groups is planned. With an active pension, it is necessary that the statutory pension has already been received in order to be able to take advantage of the benefits.

Concerns and Impact

Despite the positive approaches, there are also skeptical voices about the expected effects of active pensions. Experts fear that the potential audience of retirees is not being adequately reached. A large proportion of pensioners retire on average at the age of 64 - i.e. two years before the legal age limit of 66. This could limit the effectiveness of the new regulations. A study by Prognos-AG suggests that, in the best case, up to 300,000 pensioners could benefit from active pensions and an increase in the value of the German economy by up to 18.2 billion euros would be possible. In the pessimistic scenario, however, only 50,000 pensioners could receive additional incentives to continue working.

Another argument comes from IW researcher Ruth Student and others who point out legal concerns and raise questions about the impact on the performance principle. The additional tax and social contributions that the state could generate also raise questions as to whether the measures will actually have an impact.

Overall, the planned pension reform with the introduction of active pensions offers some promising approaches, which are, however, confronted with practical challenges. It remains to be seen how many pensioners will actually benefit from these new regulations.