Citizen's Income / Basic Income Support; Application

Citizen's Income, also known as basic income support for job seekers, is a benefit provided by the welfare state to people of working age who cannot cover their living expenses with their own income or assets. It is regulated by Book II of the Social Code (SGB II).

Citizen’s Income ensures the economic minimum subsistence level and enables you to participate in the cultural and social life of our society.

At the same time, citizens eligible for the Citizen’s Income who are able to work receive comprehensive support from the job centers in their search for employment or training opportunities.

Conversely, anyone who receives benefits from the state—that is, from taxpayers—must actively work toward becoming self-sufficient as quickly as possible. The job centers support you in this effort.

Children in need of assistance also receive the Bürgergeld and are monitored by the job centers to ensure they have access to education and can participate in society.

Important: The basic income is paid only upon application.

Basic income support benefits are transferred to your account each month in advance.

Flat-Rate Monthly Amount (Standard Allowance)

If you receive the citizen’s income, you’ll get a flat-rate amount to cover your living expenses (known as the standard needs allowance). It covers your basic needs, such as food, clothing, and personal hygiene, and is adjusted annually. For 2026, the following amounts apply to the standard needs levels (RBS): 

• Single individuals, single parents, adults with minor partners: 563.00 EUR (RBS 1)
• Adult partners: 506.00 EUR (RBS 2)
• Other adults aged 18 to 24 and individuals under 25 who move out of their parents’ household without a commitment from the local authority (ages 18 to 24): 451.00 EUR (RBS 3)
• Children aged 14 to 17: 471.00 EUR (RBS 4)
• Children aged 6 to 13: 390.00 EUR (RBS 5)
• Children aged 0 to 5: 357.00 EUR (RBS 6)

Immediate supplement for children

Children, adolescents, and young adults also receive a monthly immediate supplement of 25.00 EUR (RBS 3–6).

AdditionalNeeds

If you need more money due to special circumstances, you may also be eligible for additional benefits—provided you meet the personal eligibility requirements. Benefits for so-called additional needs are provided, for example, to expectant mothers starting in the 13th week of pregnancy, single parents, people with disabilities who receive benefits to support their participation in the workforce, or individuals who require a more expensive diet for medical reasons.

Costs for Housing and Heating

If you receive the Citizen’s Income, the costs for your housing and heating are covered, provided these costs are reasonable. In the first year of receiving benefits, the actual costs of your apartment or house (net rent excluding utilities) are covered, even if they are not reasonable (the so-called “grace period”). Starting in the second year of receiving benefits, these costs will only be covered if they are reasonable.

The one-year waiting period does not apply to heating costs. Even in the first year, heating costs are covered not at the actual amount but at a reasonable level. What constitutes reasonable costs depends on where you live.

• Special case: If you are under 25 years of age, unmarried, and want to move out of your parents’ home or leave the home of one parent, you can only receive these benefits if you have a so-called “commitment letter” from the Job Center. You must apply for this commitment letter at your Job Center.

In addition, you may be eligible for the following benefits:

• In emergencies where your livelihood is at risk, you can receive a loan in the form of cash or in-kind benefits upon separate application. This could be the case, for example, if something was stolen from you or broke. However, the standard benefit amount already includes a portion set aside for savings. This means you must normally pay for new purchases and replacements using the money you’ve saved from your standard benefit.
• In certain situations, you may also receive one-time assistance upon submitting a separate application. Examples include initial furnishings for your home or initial supplies for pregnancy and childbirth.
• You may be eligible for assistance with your health and long-term care insurance premiums.
• For your children, you receive benefits for “Education and Participation in Social and Cultural Life” (BuT). These are automatically included in your main application, for example, for
  • school field trips,
  • school lunches,
  • school supplies (twice a year), or
  • benefits for extracurricular learning support (tutoring).

Consideration of Income and Assets

When calculating the citizen’s income, your income and assets—as well as those of all persons with whom you live in a “benefit community”—are taken into account, because you can only receive citizen’s income if you are in need of assistance.

Income includes:

• Income from employment (including self-employment),
• income replacement benefits such as unemployment benefits from the Employment Agency, parental benefits, or sick pay,
• capital gains and interest income, as well as income from stock holdings, provided they exceed 100.00 EUR,
• Income from renting and leasing, agriculture, and forestry,
• Alimony and child support,
• Pensions,
• one-time income, such as tax refunds, and
• vocational training grants, training allowances, and BAföG.

The following are deducted from this amount:

• Taxes applicable to the income (such as payroll tax and income tax).
• Mandatory contributions to statutory social insurance (such as health insurance, long-term care insurance, and pension insurance)
• Professional expenses, i.e., certain costs incurred in the course of your profession,
• insurance required by law (such as auto liability insurance),
• a flat rate of 30.00 EUR per month for private insurance, such as home contents insurance, and
• contributions to a Riester pension.

As a general rule: Your income up to 100.00 EUR is not taken into account (deduction). If your income exceeds 100 EUR, an additional, specific amount is also excluded (known as the tax-free allowance). This amount depends on the amount of your gross income.

As a young person, you may keep income from jobs held while in school or college and income from vocational training up to the “minijob” limit (currently 603.00 EUR). Your income from summer jobs during school breaks is not taken into account at all.

Those participating in the Federal Voluntary Service (Bundesfreiwilligendienst) and the Voluntary Social Year (FSJ) also benefit from increased exemption amounts, as do young people in the transition period between school and vocational training.

Exemptions also apply to “realizable” assets.

Assets are the totality (stock) of a person’s possessions that can be measured in monetary terms. However, not all assets must be liquidated. Assets are considered liquid if they can be used directly for living expenses or if their monetary value can be used for living expenses through consumption, sale, pledging, renting, or leasing. Assets that you cannot freely dispose of—for example, because the asset is pledged as collateral—are not realizable.

Assets include, for example:

• Cash,
• balances in investment accounts, savings accounts, home savings accounts, savings bonds, securities, cryptocurrencies,
• whole life insurance policies,
• accident insurance policies with premium refunds, as well as
• Homes, real estate, and condominiums of an unreasonable size, as well as other real property rights.

The following applies to asset exemptions:

• As of January 1, 2023, a so-called “waiting period” of one year applies when receiving citizen’s income for the first time. Various special provisions apply during this waiting period. During the waiting period, 40,000 EUR for the first person in the household are excluded from consideration. For each additional person, 15,000 EUR remains exempt. After the waiting period expires, the 15,000 EUR limit applies to each member of the benefit community. However, if one member of the household has more assets while another member has less than 15,000 EUR, the unused exemption amount is transferred to the other member of the household.

In general, the following items are not counted as part of your assets:

• reasonable household goods
• A reasonable motor vehicle for each person of working age in the household. A motor vehicle is considered reasonable provided its value does not exceed 15,000 EUR.
• An owner-occupied condominium with a floor area of up to 130 m² or a single-family home lot with an area of up to 140 m² is not considered countable assets (larger areas are permitted if there are more than 4 people).

• Insurance policies and other forms of retirement savings intended for retirement, provided they are expressly recognized as retirement savings under federal law.
• For self-employed individuals, additional assets designated for retirement planning, regardless of the form of investment. This applies up to a maximum limit to be determined on an individual basis.
• Assets that are demonstrably intended for the imminent acquisition or maintenance of a residential property or a condominium of reasonable size, This applies only if the residential property or condominium serves or is intended to serve as a residence for people with disabilities or those in need of long-term care, and this purpose would be jeopardized by the use or disposal of the assets.
• Property and rights, to the extent that their liquidation would cause particular hardship for the person concerned.

Reductionsin Benefits

The citizen’s income may be reduced due to breaches of obligations or failure to report:

• If you fail to comply with agreements regarding your obligations to cooperate (making your own efforts, participating in programs, and applying for job placement offers), these obligations may be made legally binding for you through formal notices accompanied by information on the legal consequences.
• Reductions in benefits due to breaches of obligations and failure to report amount to a total of no more than 30 percent of your applicable monthly standard need. Needs for housing and heating are not reduced.
• In the event of a breach of obligation, your applicable standard benefit will be reduced by 10 percent for one month upon the first violation. In the event of a subsequent breach of obligation, the standard benefit will be reduced by 20 percent for two months. For each subsequent breach of obligations within one year, you will receive 30 percent less of your standard benefit for three months.
• Reductions in benefits due to breaches of obligations are lifted if you fulfill your obligations to cooperate or subsequently provide a credible explanation that you are complying with your obligations. However, even in these cases, the reduction period is at least one month.
• If you fail to report as required, your standard benefit amount will be reduced by 10 percent for one month.
• Benefits will not be reduced if there is a valid reason or if doing so would result in exceptional hardship in the specific individual case.
• You have the opportunity to present the circumstances of your individual case during a hearing. If you repeatedly violate your obligations or miss reporting deadlines, the hearing must take place in person.

If you are under 25 years of age, you will generally be offered counseling in the event of a reduction in benefits.

• You are able to work. This means that you
  • can work at least 3 hours a day and
  • are at least 15 years old and have not yet reached the retirement age for the statutory pension insurance. If you were born after 1963, this age is 67. If you were born before 1964, you can look up the applicable retirement age in the table in Section 7a of Book II of the Social Code (SGB II).
• You are in need of assistance. This means that you cannot cover your own necessary living expenses and those of your non-working family members living with you in a benefits community—neither from your own resources (income and assets) and efforts (labor) nor with the help of other or priority benefits (such as unemployment benefits, housing assistance, or the child supplement).
• You have no priority claims against other benefit providers (such as housing assistance) or other individuals, such as a divorced spouse or the father or mother of your child.
• You live in the Federal Republic of Germany.

Basic income support benefits for job seekers are subject to application. Only those who apply for the citizen’s income will receive benefits, provided the other requirements are met. The application is retroactive to the first day of the month. Benefits are granted for a period specified in the notification. After that period, a new application must be submitted.

To receive the citizen's income, you must submit an application. To do so, contact your Jobcenter. You can also do this online.

Apply for the Citizen’s Income in writing:

• Visit your local Jobcenter. It is located in the county or city where you usually reside or are registered.
• At the Jobcenter, your personal situation will be discussed, and you’ll receive all the application forms and documents you need to fill out.
• The application forms can be sent to you if you request them, for example, over the phone or by email. You can also find the application forms online.
• Fill out the application forms for Bürgergeld. You can get help with this at the Jobcenter or use the instructions for filling out the forms, which are available in German.
• Submit your complete application documents to your Jobcenter. This also includes:
  • Proof of rent, heating, and utility costs, and
  • Proof of income and assets.
• The Jobcenter will decide on your application. You will be notified of the decision regarding your application in writing by mail.

The Job Center will decide on your application. You will be notified of the decision regarding your application in writing by mail or online.

• Required document(s)
  
  • Application Forms
  • Valid identification document:
    • Identity card or
    • Valid passport with a current certificate of residence
    • Residence permit
  • Proof of income, such as a pay stub or recent bank statements (e.g., showing pension payments, sick pay, child support, alimony, or advance alimony payments)
  • Proof of assets (such as savings, stocks, securities, or home savings contracts)
  • Proof of expenses, such as bank statements (or, for example, a lease agreement, rent receipts, heating bills, and documentation of insurance premiums)
  • Proof of previous benefit receipt, including from another Jobcenter (approval notice, proof of benefits)
  • If you are submitting the application following a period of employment:
    • Employment documents (including a letter of termination or a statement regarding resignation)
  • Employment certificate (to be completed by the employer)

• Bank statements for the last 3 months from all accounts (including PayPal, etc.)
• additional supporting documentation, if necessary

There are no costs involved.