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1-2-3 Ticket: Everything you need to know about Austria’s nationwide rail pass

Known as the 1-2-3 Ticket, Austria's nationwide public transport pass just got one step closer to reality. Here's what you need to know.

1-2-3 Ticket: Everything you need to know about Austria's nationwide rail pass
Photo: DPA

Following the success of Vienna’s 365 ticket, in which residents of Austria’s capital city pay just €1 a day to use public transport, the Austrian government has flagged a similar scheme for nationwide travel. 

The government is hoping approve an annual ticket allowing unlimited travel on public transport all across the alpine state for €1,095 by the end of 2021.

The idea behind the 1-2-3 ticket is that eventually Austrian residents can choose to pay one euro per day for unlimited public transport in their own state, two euros per day for travel in two neighbouring states or three euros per day to travel throughout Austria. 

365 Ticket: Everything you need to know about Vienna’s cheap annual metro pass 

Plans for the Austria-wide ticket, also known as the ”climate ticket”, took a step forward on Friday, January 22nd, when Green party transport minister Leonore Gewessler announced Tyrol and Vorarlberg had signed a contract to go forward with the plans.

Salzburg also signed a similar contract last year.

Gewessler now says she hopes to approve the new ticket by the end of the year, with around 150 meetings being held in a bid to get all states signed up to the plan. 

When will the ticket be introduced?

The government plans to introduce the Austria-wide ticket first, and the federal tickets later. 

Once it is in place, passengers with existing season tickets should be able to exchange them for the 1-2-3 ticket, though those who wish to continue using their existing ticket may also do so. 

It is believed the Austria-wide ticket will be processed by ÖBB, Austria’s state railway company.

In rolling out the tickets at federal level, other transport organisations are involved.

The Kronen Zeitung reported earlier in January the Eastern Region Transport Association (VOR comprising Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland), wants all three options of the ticket to be introduced alongside the national ticket, saying this is the option preferred by passengers. 

Concerns were also raised last year by Upper Austria and Styria about overcrowding trains and buses.

Peter Gspaltl, head of the Styrian Transport Association, said the reforms to pricing needed to be accompanied by investment in expanding existing infrastructure.

He also said passengers wanted all three tickets to be introduced at the same time.

The Mayor of Linz, Klaus Luger, also voiced objections to the scheme in December, saying from a legal standpoint the plans went against the Austrian constitution.

He also said tariffs for local and regional transport should not be set by the federal government. However, Gewessler said on Friday that this report was already out of date.

 

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Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark’s employment allowance?

Denmark's government may soon announce changes to its tax reform plans, which will give all wage earners a bigger employment allowance. What is this and how will it affect foreigners' earnings?

Beskæftigelsesfradraget: What is Denmark's employment allowance?

What is the employment allowance? 

The Beskæftigelsesfradraget (from beskæftigelse, meaning employment, and fradrag, meaning rebate) was brought in by the centre-right Liberal Party back in 2004, the idea being that it would incentivise people to get off welfare and into a job.

Everyone whose employer pays Denmark’s 8 percent AM-bidrag, or arbejdsmarkedsbidrag, automatically receives beskæftigelsesfradraget. Unlike with some of Denmark’s tax rebates, there is no need to apply. The Danish Tax Agency simply exempts the first portion of your earnings from income taxes. 

In 2022, beskæftigelsesfradraget was set at 10.65 percent of income with a maximum rebate of 44,800 kroner. 

How did the government agree to change the employment allowance in its coalition deal? 

In Responsibility for Denmark, the coalition agreement between the Social Democrats, the Liberals and the Moderate Party, the new government said it would set aside 5 billion kroner for tax reforms.

Of this, 4 billion kroner was earmarked for increasing the employment allowance, with a further 0.3 billion going towards increasing an additional employment allowance for single parents.

According to the public broadcaster DR, the expectation was that this would increase the standard employment  allowance to 12.75 percent up to a maximum rebate of 53,600 kroner. 

How might this be further increased, according to Børsen? 

According to a report in the Børsen newspaper, the government now plans to set aside a further 1.75 billion kroner for tax reforms, of which nearly half — about 800 million kroner — will go towards a further increase to the employment allowance. 

The Danish Chamber of Commerce earlier this month released an analysis in which it argued that by raising removing all limits on the rebate for single parents and raising the maximum rebate for everone else by 20,300 kroner, the government could increase the labour supply by 4,850 people, more than double the 1,500 envisaged in the government agreement. 

According to the Børsen, the government estimates that its new extended allowance will increase the labour supply by 5,150 people.  

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