What’s new in Germany 2025. Consumption

Last Updated on January 7, 2025

As a sweetener to the ever-increasing levies, we have some novelties designed to simplify and improve our lives.

But let’s start with the bad this time.

Part 1. New in Germany 2025. Finance
New heating law in Germany

Energy and ecology

Increasing cost of CO2 emissions, aka Absolutely everything will become more expensive

Emitting 1 ton of CO2 will cost 55 euros in 2025 instead of 45. This will affect the cost of diesel, petrol, gas, Heizöl – and everything else.

For those who heat Heizöl, the increase will be around 60 euros, for gas – around 50 euros. You will, however, be happy to know that you save the environment by 260-350 euros per year.

For those who fill up with petrol, the increase will be 2.8 cents per litre, for diesel – 3.2 cents per litre. Every time you fill up with 50 litres, you save the environment by almost 8 and almost 9 euros respectively.

Electricity will become more expensive

Those who do not use nature-polluting fossils should not prematurely rub their hands in glee. They too will have to shell out. In this case, for the maintenance of electrical networks. The increase for a household will be approximately 35-40 euros per year (1.3 cents per kWh).

Those who use gas networks will be charged additionally

Not only the electrical networks need to be maintained, but also the gas ones. Please prepare an additional 80-100 euros per year.

Mandatory solar panels for new buildings in NRW

Solar panels must be installed by anyone building new homes in NRW from 2025. From 2026, panels must be installed when replacing a roof. Exceptions are very small houses, outbuildings such as garages, houses under protection, etc.

Standards for fireplaces and stoves

Fireplaces and stoves installed between the beginning of 1995 and 21.03.2010 must comply with fine dust and carbon monoxide emission standards from the beginning of 2025. Compliance with the standards is recorded by a chimney sweep.

Change in Restmüll content

Textiles in any condition, not just wearable, should be recycled. The exception is textiles contaminated with oil or harmful substances. It is not yet entirely clear how they will now separate wearable textiles from non-wearable ones. This required a lot of resources before, and it is unlikely that sorters will be ready to mess around with mountains of torn things, separating the wheat from the chaff. I think that normal things will now be collected separately during promotions.

You won’t be fined (yet) for breaking the rule, but your trash may not be collected.

They also want to get rid of batteries and small electronic devices, such as disposable e-cigarettes, from Restmüll. To do this, they want to make it easier to return such cigarettes to stores and kiosks from May 1.

How to sort waste in Germany – what waste is going where

Mandatory consultation when purchasing biocides

When buying biocidal products (against rodents, insects, Holzschutzmittel) in a regular or online store, you must be consulted. I do not know how this will be done in regular stores. In online stores, when selling some drugs, they already “consult” by sending a “consultation” in writing. Probably, it will be formalized in the same way.

Consumption

Let’s now move on to how we are cared for.

“Smart” meters

“Smart” meters (Smart Meter), which record not only how much electricity you have consumed, but also when, should be installed by households with high energy consumption (from 6000 kWh), electric pumps, and solar panels.

The rest have the right to ask for such a meter to be installed for them too. You have the right, but it is not worth it: the meter is needed for so-called dynamic tariffs, which use the hourly exchange price of electricity, so that electricity consumption can be postponed until “cheap” hours. But ordinary households do not have significant expenses at night. Even washing at night can be questionable, since this is often prohibited by house rules. But you can significantly increase your electricity bill by unsuccessfully baking pies during a jump in prices on the exchange.

Limiting the maximum amount of vitamins in supplements

Until now, different European countries had different recommendations on the maximum content of some vitamins in supplements, and they were often violated. Now it has been decided to issue pan-European mandatory rules on the content of vitamins A, B6, D, E, iron, selenium, folic acid, manganese.

Amalgam ban

Continuing with the topic of health care: amalgam fillings are banned because of mercury. Now Krankenkasse will pay for composite materials. Let’s be happy about that.

Digitalization

Electronic medical records

I think I’ve been writing about this for five years now, and the cart is still stuck. Electronic medical documents should finally start working from February. But something is being delayed again. However, in some advanced test regions they will be switched on from January. If I remember correctly, Franconia and Hamburg were lucky.

You had to get papers about electronic documents from the Krankenkasse, agree to it, install the application, get a code for it – in general, you have to do a certain number of actions yourself, it will not work without your participation. In addition to documents for yourself, you can get the opportunity to see documents of other family members, but, again, for this you will have to do a certain number of movements. In particular, for those who are in the TK KK, visit the filial.

Review of giroconto terms and conditions on an independent website

The government has decided to create an independent website where the terms of giroconto of different banks will be collected. Banks are obliged to provide information.
The initiative can only be welcomed. For now, you need to be very patient and well versed in bank websites to find all the information about accounts there. The existing calculator websites have their own interests, receiving a percentage from new clients.

The joy of this initiative is dampened by the understanding that it will not be done quickly. Let’s hope it will be faster than building the opera in Hamburg.

What is Girokonto in Germany

Fast money transfers

From now on, banks must offer “real-time” transfers (Echtzeitüberweisung) for the same price as regular transfers. Transfers are completed within 10 seconds and 24/7.

How to punish your Internet provider

If your provider does not provide you with the Internet speed specified in the contract, you have been able to do very little up to now, except change the provider. Which also does not always go smoothly. And being without the Internet for three months is not the worst thing that can happen. I know of a case where users not only found themselves without the Internet for several months, but also were unable to change the provider as a result.

Now they have prepared a website with which you can officially check your speed. After that (somewhere in the spring) they will introduce rules on how to punish the provider by reducing the monthly fee based on the results obtained.

Mandatory USB-C

Devices should only have USB-C chargers so that you can use one cable for everything. Laptops may still have their own cable, but that won’t last long.

Jobcenter application

Jobcenter-App should be up and running for everyone from January 14. It can be used to set terms and upload documents. Let’s hope it really works, because communicating with Jobcenter is a real challenge right now, it feels like it’s entrenched like a fortress and needs to be stormed every time.

Tax free 2025

The declaration can only be submitted electronically. The deadline for filing the declaration this year is July 31, 2025, with a consultant it is longer.

Deductions for the maintenance of parents, ex-wife or children can be confirmed only if the money was transferred to an account and not handed over during personal visits. The same applies to parents abroad.

Deductions for care (Betreuung, Pflege) are also only possible if the money was transferred to accounts.

All income tax deduction (in German tax return). A-D
All tax deductions (in German income tax declaration). E-H
German tax refund – What I can claim to return. I-N
Tax return in Germany. All income tax deduction P-W
All deductible expenses in German tax return. 1. Außergewöhnliche Belastungen

Photos for passports

Photos should be transferred to the authorities digitally, not printed.
Honestly, I think, it’ll cost more for the user. Firstly, it will be easier to track that a photo is older than six months. If a person has not changed much, the need to take a new photo in 7 months is quite annoying. Secondly, it is not entirely clear how this will all work, for example, if a person wants to take a photo in a photo booth. Let’s say they will print QR codes. But they could just as easily print one photo. Mysterious.

Cars

The exchange of driving licenses continues.
The deadline for exchanging paper driver’s licenses (licenses issued before the beginning of 1999) ends on January 19, 2025, regardless of the driver’s year of birth (the exchange depending on the year of birth ended at this point).
Since 2025, the exchange of rights issued in card form will begin – the date of issue is important in this case. By January 19, 2026, it is necessary to exchange rights issued in card form between 01.01.1999 and 01.01.2002.

M+S tyres must not be used. All-season tyres must have the Alpine marking (mountain with snowflake).

The car’s stickers will be blue. If yours is another color, it means it’s time for you to go to TÜV.

No new motorcycles with emissions below Euro 5+.

Do you have any more questions? Use comments ⇓ or private communication form ⇨

And other changes

Limitation of the number of deputies. The number of deputies in Germany depends on the ratio of results on party lists and districts. The traffic light government has carried out a reform to limit this number, since the Bundestag tends to expand infinitely, like the universe.
The next elections will take place on February 23.

Windows 10 support is ending.

If you’ve always wanted to know how much suffering the pig in your grill endured, now you can. Since August, pork sold must be labeled in five ways (pen, large pen, fresh air pen, pasture, and bio).

You can conclude an employment contract via email.

Changes in the registration of surnames and first names. A hyphen between double names is not required. Couples may retroactively receive a double surname. Children of couples not in a marital partnership may receive double surnames.

Part 1. New in Germany 2025. Finance
New heating law in Germany