Brutto-Netto Calculator Germany
Gross to net salary for Germany 2026: income tax, solidarity surcharge, church tax and social contributions, plus the two numbers most calculators hide: your marginal rate and what a raise is really worth.
1Gross salary
€
Your gross salary before any deductions. Switch between annual and monthly input; the amount converts automatically.
2Tax profile
Tax class (Steuerklasse)
Class I: single, divorced or widowed, without the single-parent relief.
Church tax
3Insurance and children
%
Your insurer's individual add-on rate. Published average for 2026: 2.9 %. You pay half, your employer pays the other half.
Children under 25
Sets the care-insurance rate: no children means a 0.6 % surcharge (from age 23); from the second to the fifth child the rate drops by 0.25 % each.
As registered on your ELStAM, in steps of 0.5 per child. During the year it only lowers solidarity surcharge and church tax, not the wage tax itself.
Your net salary 2026
2,694.75 €
net per month · 32,337 € net per year
Gross salary4,166.67 €
Wage tax (Lohnsteuer)−565.67 €
Solidarity surcharge0.00 €
Pension insurance (9.3 %)−387.50 €
Unemployment insurance (1.3 %)−54.17 €
Health insurance−364.58 €
Care insurance−100.00 €
Net salary2,694.75 €
Effective deduction rate35.3 %
Marginal rate (next 1,000 €)46.8 %
Marginal and effective rate across salaries
Marginal rateEffective rate
60 %
45 %
30 %
15 %
0 %
Your salary
030k60k90k120k
A 1,000 € raise is worth 533 € net to you. The other 46.8 % goes to taxes and contributions. That marginal rate is also what every euro of deductible retirement savings gives back.
Assumes statutory health insurance, 2026 rates, no individual allowances, and age 23+ for the childless care surcharge. Monthly values are the annual result divided by twelve; your payslip may differ by a few cents.
Embed this calculator Updated: July 2026 · Tax year 2026 values
How it works
From gross to net in four steps
1
Enter your gross salary
Type your gross salary and choose whether it is a yearly or monthly figure. The calculator works with the annual amount internally.
2
Pick tax class and state
Your tax class drives the wage-tax formula. The federal state sets the church-tax rate (8 % in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, 9 % elsewhere) and Saxony's higher employee care-insurance share.
3
Add insurance details and children
Enter your health insurer's add-on rate, your children under 25 for care insurance, and your registered child allowance counter.
4
Read net, rates and the raise scenario
You get net per month and year, the full deduction breakdown, your effective and marginal rate, and what a 1,000 € raise actually leaves in your pocket.
Key concepts
The terms behind your payslip
Tax class (Steuerklasse)
One of six withholding categories that decides which allowances the wage-tax formula grants you during the year. It changes your monthly cash flow, not your final annual tax, which is settled in the tax return.
Basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag)
The first 12,348 € of taxable income (2026) are tax-free for everyone. The income-tax formula only starts above it.
§32a EStG tariff formula
German income tax is a published closed-form polynomial, not a bracket table. Rates rise smoothly from 14 % above the basic allowance to 42 % from 69,879 € and 45 % from 277,826 € of taxable income (2026).
Solidarity surcharge (Soli)
A 5.5 % surcharge on wage tax that since 2021 only applies above a threshold: in 2026 it starts once annual wage tax exceeds 20,350 € (single) and phases in at 11.9 % of the excess.
Church tax (Kirchensteuer)
8 % of wage tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, 9 % in all other states, charged only to registered church members. Child allowances reduce its base.
Contribution ceiling (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze)
Social contributions are only charged up to a cap: 101,400 € for pension and unemployment insurance, 69,750 € for health and care insurance (2026). Above these, extra salary carries no additional contributions.
Vorsorgepauschale
The wage-tax procedure automatically deducts a lump sum for your pension, health, care and, from 2026, unemployment contributions before applying the tariff. That is why social insurance also lowers your wage tax.
Marginal vs. effective rate
The effective rate is total deductions divided by gross. The marginal rate is what the next euro loses, and it is the number that prices every raise, bonus, and tax-deductible retirement contribution.
Good to know
Six ways to read your result
Plan with the marginal rate, not the average
Deductible retirement savings (Rürup, company pension, extra pension contributions) save tax at your marginal rate, exactly like a Swiss Pillar 3a contribution does. At a 45 % marginal rate, 1,000 € into a deductible plan costs you only 550 € net. The average rate understates this effect badly.
A raise is never a loss
Germany has no bracket cliffs: the tariff is a smooth curve, so only the raise itself is taxed at the higher marginal rate, never your existing salary. Use the raise card to see the real value before you negotiate.
Couples: III/V changes timing, not the bill
Tax classes III/V move more net into the higher earner's monthly payslip but often trigger back payments, and class V's high withholding also lowers wage-replacement benefits like parental allowance. IV/IV with factor tracks the final tax most closely.
The add-on rate is shoppable
Health insurers differ by more than a full percentage point in their Zusatzbeitrag. Half of every point is yours: at a 60,000 € salary, one point less means about 300 € more net per year. Switching insurer is a two-letter exercise.
Child allowances work differently during the year
Registered Kinderfreibeträge do not reduce your monthly wage tax, only solidarity surcharge and church tax. The full income-tax effect is settled in the annual return, where the tax office automatically compares allowance versus child benefit (Kindergeld).
Above the ceilings, net grows faster
Once your salary passes 69,750 € (health/care) and 101,400 € (pension/unemployment, 2026), contributions stop growing. Your marginal burden drops noticeably, so salary growth at that level converts to net better than the step before.
FAQ
How is net salary calculated from gross in Germany in 2026?+
Four deductions leave your gross: wage tax from the official §32a EStG formula (after the Vorsorgepauschale and your tax class's allowances), the solidarity surcharge above its threshold, church tax for members, and social contributions: 9.3 % pension, 1.3 % unemployment, 7.3 % plus half the add-on rate for health, and 1.8 % plus surcharges or discounts for care insurance, each capped at its contribution ceiling.
Which tax class do I have and can I change it?+
Singles get class I, single parents class II, married couples choose III/V, IV/IV or IV with factor, and every second job is class VI. Couples can change class during the year at the tax office. The class only shifts withholding between the partners; the final annual tax is identical after the tax return.
What is my marginal tax rate and why should I care?+
It is the share of the next earned euro that goes to taxes and contributions. It prices every financial decision at the margin: a raise, a bonus, extra hours, and above all tax-deductible retirement savings, which return exactly your marginal rate in saved tax. This calculator reports it over the next 1,000 € of gross.
Do I lose money if a raise pushes me into a higher tax rate?+
No. The German tariff is a continuous formula without jumps, so the higher rate only applies to the additional income. A 1,000 € raise always increases your net; this calculator shows by exactly how much. The only genuine cliffs in the system are outside the tariff, for example the health-insurance ceiling for family co-insurance.
Who still pays the solidarity surcharge in 2026?+
Only higher earners. The surcharge starts once your annual wage tax exceeds 20,350 € (40,700 € in class III), which corresponds to roughly 90,000 € gross for a single person with statutory insurance. It then phases in at 11.9 % of the wage tax above the threshold until it reaches the full 5.5 %.
How much is church tax and how do I stop paying it?+
Registered members of tax-collecting churches pay 8 % of their wage tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9 % in the other fourteen states. Child allowance counters reduce the base. Payment ends only with a formal exit declaration (Kirchenaustritt) at the registry office or local court, which costs a small administrative fee.
What is the health insurance add-on rate (Zusatzbeitrag)?+
Each statutory insurer sets its own add-on rate on top of the uniform 14.6 %. The published average for 2026 is 2.9 %, but insurers range roughly from 1.5 % to over 4 %. Employer and employee split both parts equally, so your half is 7.3 % plus half your insurer's add-on rate.
What are the contribution ceilings (Beitragsbemessungsgrenzen) for 2026?+
Pension and unemployment contributions stop at 101,400 € of annual gross (8,450 € per month), health and care contributions at 69,750 € (5,812.50 € per month), nationwide. Salary above these ceilings pays no additional social contributions, which is why the deduction share falls for high earners.
Why is Saxony treated differently?+
Saxony kept a public holiday when care insurance was introduced in 1995, so its employees carry 0.5 percentage points more of the care contribution than employees elsewhere (2.3 % instead of 1.8 % base share in 2026), while employers pay correspondingly less. Gross for gross, net in Saxony is slightly lower.
Does this calculator match the official BMF calculator?+
Yes. The engine implements the exact 2026 §32a EStG formula and the official wage-tax procedure (Programmablaufplan) and was verified against a reference implementation of the official BMF calculation across thousands of test cases, matching wage tax to the euro. Assumptions: statutory health insurance, no individual ELStAM allowances, annual figures divided by twelve for monthly display.
Wage tax follows the official 2026 procedure: gross minus the Vorsorgepauschale (9.3 % pension share; health at the reduced 7 % rate plus half the add-on rate; actual care share; unemployment share within the 1,900 € cap) and the class allowances (employee lump sum 1,230 €, special expenses 36 €, single-parent relief 4,260 € in class II), then the exact §32a EStG polynomial: 0 % to 12,348 €, then (914.51·y + 1,400)·y, then (173.10·z + 2,397)·z + 1,034.87, then 42 % above 69,878 € and 45 % above 277,825 €. Class III uses splitting, classes V/VI the §39b(2) procedure. Solidarity surcharge applies at 5.5 % above 20,350 € wage tax (11.9 % phase-in), church tax at 8 or 9 % on the base after child allowances. Social contributions use the 2026 rates and ceilings (pension 18.6 %, unemployment 2.6 %, health 14.6 % plus add-on, care 3.6 % with surcharges/discounts; ceilings 101,400 € / 69,750 €). Verified against the official BMF Programmablaufplan reference across 5,000 randomized cases (max deviation 1 € from euro rounding).
§32a, §39b EStG · BMF Programmablaufplan 2026 · Sozialversicherungs-Rechengrößenverordnung 2026 · illustrative, not tax advice