What is a pension?

According to the definition in sect. 229 of the Social Code Book V (SGB V), pension benefits are income comparable to pensions (pension payments), insofar as they are earned due to a reduction in earning capacity or for old-age or survivors' pensions.

Pension benefits include:

• Pensions from insurance and pension institutions established for members of certain professions (e.g., doctors, architects, lawyers),
• Pensions of the company pension scheme including the supplementary pension in the civil service and the supplementary pension of the miners,
• Remuneration from the pensions of deputies, parliamentary state secretaries and ministers,
• Pension payments from a public-law employment relationship or from an employment relationship with entitlement to pension payments in accordance with civil service regulations or principles.