The Deutschlandticket is a 49-euro ticket valid throughout Germany on public transport and regional trains and can be purchased as a monthly subscription. Around 13 million people currently have a Deutschlandticket. Employers can even offer it to their employees as a job ticket at a reduced price if they subsidize it.
From January 1, 2025, however, the Deutschlandticket will be 9 euros more expensive: instead of the current 49 euros, it will then cost 58 euros per month. The price of the Jobticket will also change as a result. An overview of what this means for companies, employers and employees.
The original offer of the Deutschlandticket for public transport was a simple, popular and radical measure: a ticket that covers all public transport throughout the country for just 9 euros per month. This experiment, which ran for three months in the summer of 2022, was so popular that politicians felt compelled to introduce a permanent follow-up offer: the Deutschlandticket, which from then on was available as a subscription for 49 euros per month.
It also quickly became one of the most popular benefits for employees in companies. Many employers subsidized the ticket. Not least because the state gives a further 5% discount if more than 25% of the ticket is subsidized. Quite a few companies also paid for the ticket in full. The following overview shows the pricing for the Jobticket when employers subsidize the ticket.
The price of the Deutschlandticket - and therefore also the Jobticket - will increase by 9 euros to 58 euros per month from January 1, 2025. What this means for employers depends on how they have contractually regulated the Deutschland-Jobticket.
If employers have contractually agreed to pay for the Deutschlandticket, they must continue to do so in the future - regardless of the price.
However, if they have explicitly stipulated that a subsidy of 49 euros will be granted for the ticket, it will remain at 49 euros, regardless of any price increases for the ticket. Employers are of course free to increase the job ticket subsidy to 58 euros in future.
The original regulation on the employer subsidy of at least 25% and the associated discount of 5% from the federal government remains in place. The percentage values will remain the same, but the absolute figures will change as a result of the price increase. With ticket costs of 58 euros per month, the minimum contribution for employers will increase from 12.25 euros to 14.50 euros.
This means that employees must also expect higher costs. This is because the contribution to the job ticket will rise from 34.30 euros to 40.60 euros.
Due to the price increase of 9 euros to 58 euros, the price of the Deutschlandticket will exceed the so-called 50-euro tax-free limit for non-cash benefits from January 2025. This has implications for employers who provide the Deutschlandticket as a job ticket to their employees as a non-cash benefit, as it would then no longer be tax-free.
However, employers now have two options as to how they can still offer their employees the Deutschlandticket tax-free.
Firstly, companies can make use of Section 3 No. 15 of the Income Tax Act. This provision states that tickets for public transport may be offered tax-free by the employer if they are designated as tickets for the journey to work, i.e. as job tickets. This means that the Deutschlandticket can continue to be offered tax-free and free of social security contributions without non-cash benefits.
Companies also have the option of continuing to grant the Germany Job Ticket as a benefit in kind. If their allowance for the ticket does not exceed the 50 euro exemption limit. In this case, employees must pay the difference themselves. Technically, this option can be implemented using NAVIT's new split-pay function, for example.
Nine euros more per month per employee is still a manageable additional cost for many employers. However, the cost of the Deutschlandticket could rise further in the future, creating legal uncertainties for employers. So what should you look out for?
If there are further price increases, the consequences for employers and employees depend heavily on the wording of the agreements made. Experts in employment law therefore recommend agreeing a fixed or maximum amount rather than a lump sum. This also provides protection in the event that the Deutschlandticket is replaced by another ticket in the future. Disputes could thus be avoided.
