Three billion euros

Price explosion looms for passports, driving licenses and more

Smokers - of both traditional and e-cigarettes - are also asked to pay.

(Bild: Scharinger Daniel)

Smokers, pensioners, the unemployed and house builders: we are all paying for the blue-black budget overhaul. Because more than half of the 6.4 billion euros will have to be borne by private households - with higher fees and more expensive cigarettes.

Significant price increases are to be expected for documents and certificates. As federal fees have not been increased since 2011, there is now a threat of a price adjustment of up to 44 percent. This will be felt particularly when it comes to issuing documents: So a passport could soon cost 110 instead of 76 euros, a B driving license 90 instead of 60 euros, and car registration could rise from 120 to 172 euros. For an express passport, you would have to pay around 143 euros instead of the current 100 euros, and 316 euros for a one-day express passport (instead of the current 220 euros). PV systems and boiler replacements will also become more expensive.

Cigarettes will become permanently more expensive
50 million is to be raised via tobacco tax, for example by freezing the price component. "We first have to look at how this is ultimately structured," says Ralf-Wolfgang Lothert, Director Corporate Affairs & Communication at JTI Austria. But of course, higher taxes would ultimately also lead to an increase in the price of cigarettes. The inclusion of "tobacco for heating" has also been announced. Although this is already taxed, at 17 percent it is significantly lower than traditional cigarettes (60 percent). With a volume of235 million euros, industry insiders do not expect the two tax rates to be equalized, however, and tobacco for heating is likely to remain cheaper.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/stock.adobe.com)

Pensioners must also be prepared for cuts. According to reports, their health insurance contributions could be increased. According to the budget consolidation plans, 320 million euros are to be saved in the area of health insurance: 270 million euros to adjust contributions and 50 million euros to close insurance gaps. The FPÖ and ÖVP have not yet specified what is meant by this.

"We will not put up with this"
There are rumors of an increase in health insurance contributions for pensioners. According to the budget consolidation plans, 320 million euros are to be saved in this area: 270 million euros to adjust contributions and 50 million euros to close insurance gaps. The FPÖ and ÖVP have not yet specified what is meant by this. It is likely that an increase in health insurance contributions for pensioners is planned in order to save the 270 million.

Currently, their contribution rate is 5.1 percent of their gross pension, while the rate for employees is significantly higher at 7.65 percent. However, employees only pay 3.87%, while the employer pays 3.78%, which is why the pensioners' association argues that pensioners already pay the highest health insurance contribution. Senior citizens' representatives are already rising to the barricades. "We certainly won't put up with this", announced Peter Kostelka, President of the SPÖ-affiliated pensioners' association, "fierce resistance". The ÖVP Seniors' Association showed understanding that all population groups would have to contribute to the budget restructuring, but called for a balanced relationship.

Banks take defensive stance
The banks are also taking a defensive stance after rumors of an increase in the bank levy surfaced. Such a step would slow down lending and thus weaken the economy, according to the industry. The trade union-affiliated Momentum Institute has calculated that of the 6.4 billion euros in savings, 2.7 billion euros will be borne entirely by households (43 percent). A further 1.5 billion (23 percent) is borne jointly by households and companies. More than half of the total volume is therefore borne by households. Only 0.5 billion (eight percent) is borne by companies alone. The remaining 1.7 billion (27 percent) is borne by the public sector.