German lawmakers passed several tax relief measures on Thursday to compensate for rising energy and food prices. This year alone, citizens are to save just under €4.5 billion ($4.6 billion) as a result, and the relief is to add up to around €22.5 billion by 2026. The basic personal allowance for income tax – the income threshold above which one has to pay income tax in Germany – will be raised from the current level of €9,984 euros €10,347 euros. This is to apply retroactively to January 1. Also retroactive to January 1, long-distance commuter allowance in consumers’ tax returns will be increa…