Press release No. 114 of 11 March 2021
WIESBADEN – The Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) studied what effect the value added tax cut in force from 1 July to the end of 2020 and the child bonus paid in September and October 2020 had on private consumption. The Federal Government had adopted the two measures in June 2020 as part of its economic stimulus package aimed at overcoming the corona crisis. From August to December 2020, 20 to 25% of households made additional purchases each month on account of the value added tax cut or made purchases earlier than they had planned. This is the result of a representative survey commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Finance. More than half of the households entitled to children’s allowance used the entire child bonus or part of it for consumption purposes, especially to buy consumer durables. Households were asked about how they intended to use this (additional) disposable income.
