Calculate your German net salary

This calculator uses the 2026 income-tax piecewise polynomial from Paragraf 32a EStG (the same formula your tax office applies at year-end), plus the 2026 social-insurance Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen and rates published by GKV-Spitzenverband and Deutsche Rentenversicherung. Your monthly Lohnsteuer on a payslip can differ by up to 1 percent because the monthly Lohnsteuer table uses a slightly simplified algorithm. The annual settlement uses the same polynomial we use here.

The total social-insurance load in Germany is 42.30 percent for 2026 (employer + employee, before the childless surcharge), split roughly half-half. As an employee you pay about 21.15 percent of gross in social insurance plus your income tax. Combined, mid-range earners (40,000 to 75,000 EUR per year) take home about 55 to 60 percent of their gross. High earners closer to the BBG (101,400 EUR per year for RV/AV) keep more of each additional EUR because pension and unemployment contributions cap.

Class I covers single, divorced, widowed (after the Witwensplitting year), or married with a permanently separated spouse. Class II is for single parents who claim the Entlastungsbetrag fuer Alleinerziehende. Married couples typically pick III + V (one main earner) or IV + IV (similar earners). Class VI applies to second jobs and uses no allowances. If you're unsure, Class I is the safe default for unmarried employees.

Soli (Solidaritaetszuschlag) is 5.5 percent of the income tax owed, but only above a Freigrenze. For 2026 the Freigrenze is 20,350 EUR of income tax for single filers (40,700 EUR jointly). Below that, Soli is zero. Just above the Freigrenze there's a Milderungszone where Soli is capped at 11.9 percent of the difference between income tax and the Freigrenze. Most middle-class earners pay no Soli; only the top 10 percent of earners actually owe it.

Bayern and Baden-Württemberg set their church tax (Kirchensteuer) rate at 8 percent of the income tax owed; all other Bundeslaender use 9 percent. The rate applies to the income tax, NOT to gross salary, so on a 50,000 EUR class I gross with about 10,500 EUR income tax, church tax is around 850 EUR (Bayern) or 950 EUR (NRW). You only pay if you're a registered member of a recognised religious community; choose 'no church tax' if you're not.

The Pflegeversicherung surcharge for childless workers from age 23 is 0.6 percentage points (employee-only). It's a demographic-policy adjustment: parents are credited for raising the next generation of contributors. The surcharge ends as soon as you have a child. Sachsen also uses a different employer/employee split (employee 2.3 percent, employer 1.3 percent) instead of the 1.8/1.8 default, because the state historically provided a public holiday in lieu of the employer share.