February 2024 will bring with it a number of changes and new laws for consumers. These include eBay, Amazon Prime, but also solar systems.
New laws come into force in February. (Source: Kesu01 / depositphotos.com)
- Some new laws and rules will apply from February.
- These include, among other things, private sales on eBay and vacation rentals via Airbnb. Taxes may sometimes apply to these in the future.
- There are also changes to solar systems and Amazon Prime.
Until now, excess electricity from newly installed solar systems could be fed into the grid for a fee. This is still possible, but an adjustment to the Renewable Energy Act (EEG) shows that the feed-in tariff will fall by one percent from February 1st. A further reduction of one percent will take place in August.
Reduction in the feed-in tariff for new solar systems
For solar systems that were connected to the grid by January 31st, there is still a feed-in tariff of 8.20 cents per kilowatt hour. From February 1st it will be 8.11 cents per kilowatt hour and in August only 8.03 cents per kilowatt hour.
Digital Service Act (DSA) comes into effect
The Digital Services Act (DSA) comes into force on February 17th. The European Union wants to create new framework conditions for online platforms. For example, reporting illegal content should become much easier. Stricter data protection rules are intended to ensure that targeted advertising to minors is banned in the future and the use of sensitive data for advertising purposes is restricted.
In addition, the Digital Services Act stipulates that products sold online must comply with EU standards. The DSA came into effect for large online platforms on August 25, 2023, but is now to be expanded to include platforms with fewer than 45 million active users.
Tax Transparency Act for Online Platforms
The Tax Transparency Act will come into force in February. In the future, online platforms that offer products or services will be required to transmit data to the tax office under certain conditions.
This means that the income from products or services sold commercially on platforms such as Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and Co. may be taxed if more than 30 transactions are carried out per year and a turnover of 2,000 euros is achieved.
Amazon Prime Video runs advertisements
From February 5th, Amazon will be advertising on its Prime Video streaming service. According to the company, there will be less advertising than on television, but more relevant commercials. If you want to continue using Prime Video ad-free, you can do so for a fee of 2.99 euros.
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