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- SBK Bonus Scheme – frequently asked questions
SBK Bonus Scheme – frequently asked questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about the SBK Bonus Scheme
Whether or not we have to report your bonus to the tax office or not depends, among other things, on how you choose to have your bonus paid out:
If it is paid out without an invoice, under certain conditions SBK is obliged to report your bonus for preventive check-ups and screenings, vaccinations as well as for health initiatives at work to the tax office. You can find more information under sbk.org/tax.
If paid out with a reimbursable invoice, you will receive your bonus tax-free.
Exception if paid out by 31.12.2023: Bonus payments of up to €150 are tax-free. Only the amount in excess of the € 150 has to be reported to the tax office.
Find out more on the Health insurance and tax returns page or consult an income tax assistance organisation or tax advisor.
Yes, it is. As a matter of principle we recommend that you opt for the payment with invoice. This guarantees that your bonus will always be paid out tax-free.
The SBK Bonus Scheme rewards you for your health-conscious choices. You receive a bonus for participating in statutory preventive check-ups, vaccinations, company health initiatives or if you invest in your health yourself. This includes membership of a gym, for example, or professional teeth cleaning.
You can choose the activities that best suit you. That way you are doing something good for your health and earning a bonus at the same time.
In the area of “Health-conscious choices”, in 2023 you receive a bonus for a verified activity if you have provided evidence of another second activity, regardless of which area it comes under.
Starting in 2024, you will always receive your bonus from the first recognised activity.
We will cover 100% of the costs of statutory health checks (except screening for skin cancer, where we cover up to €25 annually for customers under the age of 35 receiving services from an approved GP) and recommended vaccinations. For health initiatives, either your employer or SBK will cover the costs. We will subsidise 75% of the cost of certified health classes up to a maximum of €80 – up to twice a year. We also help you get the recommended vaccinations for travel abroad, for which we will reimburse 70% of the costs. Professional teeth cleaning and sports activities with qualified providers must be paid privately.
The digital system means you no longer have to collect stamps. Now you can simply confirm your activities digitally in the Meine SBK app on your smartphone by going to the Bonus Scheme section at meine.sbk.org/my-bonus-activities. For example, you can confirm your gym membership with a photo of your membership card or your bank statement showing regular payments.
For statutory health checks, simply enter your visits to the doctor in your Bonus Scheme. We will compare your details with the information of the doctor’s accounting data.
For your children under 15 years old covered by family insurance, you can submit the bonus activities via your Meine SBK account. To do so, select the child in question in the SBK Bonus Scheme and record the child’s bonus activities.
Children from the age of 15 covered by family insurance can submit their bonus activities themselves via their own Meine SBK account.
Yes, you can specify a different bank account for each family member.
The automatic use of doctors’ accounting data for a bonus payment is not permitted by law. To ensure you receive your bonus for health checks, we need you to provide digital confirmation of your visit to the doctor.
Simply upload a photo of your participation certificate or confirmation from the organiser to the app under the ‘Fit & Active’ activity. If you have a bonus booklet, you can keep this proof there or have the organiser stamp the booklet at the appropriate point.
For the sports activity of at least 10,000 steps a day on seven consecutive days, you get a bonus of € 10. You simply submit the evidence from the fitness app digitally using a screenshot.
From 2024, you will even get a bonus of € 20 twice a year.
That’s up to you. Your personal maximum bonus depends on the number of activities you do.
The Bonus Scheme always runs for the current calendar year. Activities can be submitted up until 31 March of the following year.
From the start of the new calendar year, you can then start to collect your bonus credit again thanks to your activities and check-ups.
By the way, any credit you have not yet redeemed from previous years still remains valid.
If you don’t participate in the Bonus Scheme digitally, your documents must be sent to us by post by 31.03. of the following year.
Your bonus credit will remain valid. You can also have this credit paid out at a later time or use it to redeem a reimbursable invoice.
There are two options for having your collected redeemable bonus credit paid out: As a payment with or without invoice.
Payment with invoice: if you submit a reimbursable invoice, e.g. for glasses or other private invoices (see the list on the SBK Bonus Scheme page), the bonus amount will be transferred to you tax-free and SBK will not report this amount to the tax office.
Payment without invoice: we will transfer your bonus directly to your bank account. If it is paid out without an invoice, under certain conditions SBK is obliged to report your bonus for preventive check-ups and screenings, vaccinations as well as for health initiatives at work to the tax office. You can find more information on the Health insurance and tax returns page.
The list of reimbursable invoices can be found here. Unfortunately, we are not able to reimburse invoices that are not on this list.
In the Meine SBK app, you can upload your invoice directly when requesting the bonus payment.
If you send us your documents by post, you can attach the invoice there and then or submit it later.
Meine SBK Support Team is available to take your call Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on: 0800 072 572 597 50 (free of charge within Germany). Or send an email to meinesbk@sbk.org, ideally with a full description of the problem or the error message.
You will find further information about the SBK Bonus Scheme or about Meine SBK here.
Your personal consultant is also happy to help you further and provide individual advice.
Answers to frequently asked questions about digital use of the SBK Bonus Scheme
- The SBK Bonus Scheme is integrated in the Meine SBK app. Log into Meine SBK with your password or register now.
- To get full access to the SBK Bonus Scheme in Meine SBK, set up two-factor authentication using your personal device registration code, if you have not done so already.
- Then, instead of collecting stamps, you simply confirm your activities digitally in the Meine SBK app.
- You can have your collected bonus credit paid out easily via the ‘Redeem credit’ option. Simply select your desired bonus.
You can start using the SBK Bonus Scheme digitally at any time and submit your bonus activities using your smartphone. You can also upload your documents with the stamps you have already collected using the app at meine.sbk.org/bonus-scheme under the ‘You have a bonus booklet’ button.
Every customer 15 years of age or older can use the Bonus Scheme digitally through their own Meine SBK account. Next year you will also be able to use the SBK Bonus Scheme digitally for your children aged 14 and younger. We will let you know when this option becomes available.
If you have set up two-factor authentication with the device registration code, you can instantly see your current bonus credit.
You get an up-to-date overview of the bonus you have collected up until now straight away.