Brutto to Netto in English: Lohnsteuer for tax classes I to VI using the Federal Ministry of Finance’s official program flow, plus Soli, church tax and your health, care, pension and unemployment insurance.
Rules checked against BMF (Federal Ministry of Finance) on ; not independently reviewed. Changelog Report an error
Take-home pay per monthExample
€2,605.50
€31,266.00 a year · from €48,000.00 gross
Same pay in tax year 2025: €31,229.04 a year — €36.96 more in 2026.
| Item | Per month | Per year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €4,000.00 | €48,000.00 |
| Income tax (Lohnsteuer) | −€524.50 | −€6,294.00 |
| Solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag) | €0.00 | €0.00 |
| Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung) | −€372.00 | −€4,464.00 |
| Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung) | −€52.00 | −€624.00 |
| Health insurance (Krankenversicherung) | −€350.00 | −€4,200.00 |
| Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) | −€96.00 | −€1,152.00 |
| Take-home pay | €2,605.50 | €31,266.00 |
Compare two scenarios. Save this result as scenario A, then change any input to see the difference.
Assumptions
Rules de-2026-r2 · checked against BMF (Federal Ministry of Finance) on · not independently reviewed · 2026 rates and sources
Lohnsteuer per the BMF Programmablaufplan for your tax class; your annual assessment may differ.
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Estimates for general information only — not financial, tax or legal advice. Your actual figures depend on your employer’s payroll, your full tax situation, your lender’s or bank’s terms and rules we may not model. Check official sources and speak to a qualified adviser before making decisions. Lohnsteuer per the BMF PAP; your annual assessment may differ. Disclaimer
Run through the BMF program flow by the calculator’s engine, North Rhine-Westphalia, no church tax, 2026.
Steuerklasse I
| Gross pay | €55,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income tax (Lohnsteuer) | −€8,060.00 |
| Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung) | −€5,115.00 |
| Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung) | −€714.96 |
| Health insurance (Krankenversicherung) | −€4,812.48 |
| Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) | −€1,320.00 |
| Take-home pay | €34,977.56 |
Average rate 36.4% · marginal rate 48.8%
Steuerklasse III
| Gross pay | €55,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income tax (Lohnsteuer) | −€3,802.00 |
| Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung) | −€5,115.00 |
| Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung) | −€714.96 |
| Health insurance (Krankenversicherung) | −€4,812.48 |
| Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) | −€1,320.00 |
| Take-home pay | €39,235.56 |
Average rate 28.7% · marginal rate 41.8%
Steuerklasse V
| Gross pay | €55,000.00 |
|---|---|
| Income tax (Lohnsteuer) | −€13,687.00 |
| Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung) | −€5,115.00 |
| Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung) | −€714.96 |
| Health insurance (Krankenversicherung) | −€4,812.48 |
| Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) | −€1,320.00 |
| Take-home pay | €29,350.56 |
Average rate 46.6% · marginal rate 54.8%
Social insurance is identical in all three cards — €11,962.44 a year — because contributions depend on pay, not tax class. Only the Lohnsteuer changes. Class III withholds as if the couple shared one income and gives the higher earner both basic allowances; class V gives the lower earner none, so the same salary loses €9,885.00 more to withholding in class V than in class III.
Church tax depends on the state. At €4,000 a month in class I, a church member pays €41.96 a month in Bavaria against €47.20 in North Rhine-Westphalia, from the same Lohnsteuer of €524.50.
Payroll withholding as your employer runs it, mirrored under Show working.
The Federal Ministry of Finance publishes the exact program flow (Programmablaufplan) payroll software must use. We generate our code from that file for each year. It applies the basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag, €12,348 in 2026), the employee lump sum (€1,230), the pension and insurance allowances and the rate formula for your tax class.
BMF Programmablaufplan 20265.5% of income tax, but only above an exemption limit of €20,350 of annual tax (doubled in class III), with a phase-in zone. Most employees pay none.
BMF PAP 2026 (MPARA, MZTABFB, MSOLZ: Grundfreibetrag, Pauschbeträge, Kinderfreibetrag, Soli-Freigrenze and rates)9% of income tax (8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg), after child allowances, for church members.
BMF, Steuern von A bis Z (Ausgabe 2025): Kirchensteuer „beträgt je nach Bundesland 8 oder 9 Prozent“9.3% and 1.3% of gross pay up to €8,450 a month.
Bekanntmachung des Beitragssatzes in der allgemeinen Rentenversicherung für 2026: 18,6 ProzentHalf of 14.6% plus half your Kasse’s Zusatzbeitrag (8.75% with the average), and care insurance at 1.8% plus any childless surcharge, both up to €5,812.50 a month.
§ 241 SGB VGross minus tax and contributions. Monthly pay is run as twelve monthly payrolls; an annual figure as one annual payroll.
From the BMF and social insurance sources in our rules files.
| Item | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag) | €12,348 | €12,096 |
| Employee lump sum | €1,230 | €1,230 |
| Child allowance per child | €9,756 | €9,600 |
| Relief for single parents | €4,260 | €4,260 |
| Soli exemption limit (annual tax) | €20,350 | €19,950 |
| Item | 2026 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Pension insurance | 9.3% | 9.3% |
| Unemployment insurance | 1.3% | 1.3% |
| Health, general (employee half) | 7.3% | 7.3% |
| Average Zusatzbeitrag (total) | 2.9% | 2.5% |
| Care insurance / childless surcharge | 1.8% / 0.6% | 1.8% / 0.6% |
| Pension and unemployment ceiling | €8,450 | €8,050 |
| Health and care ceiling | €5,812.50 | €5,512.50 |
German payroll doesn’t estimate your annual tax and spread it out; the tax class itself defines how much Lohnsteuer is withheld each month. For a single employee with one job and no other income, that withholding is usually the final tax. Couples in III/V, people with side income, and anyone with large work expenses settle up through the annual income tax return (Einkommensteuererklärung), which can produce a refund or a bill.
Income tax and social insurance are federal, so the state you live in changes only two things: the church tax rate (lower in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg) and the care insurance split in Saxony, where employees pay 2.3% instead of 1.8% because Saxony kept a public holiday the other states gave up to fund care insurance.
Above €5,812.50 a month, health and care contributions stop rising, and above €8,450 pension and unemployment contributions stop too. That is why the marginal deduction rate falls for higher salaries even though income tax keeps climbing. High earners above the compulsory insurance limit can choose private health insurance; enter the premiums under More options.
Christmas bonuses and a 13th month’s pay are taxed as “other payments” under a separate method in the PAP and are not modelled here. To see a year with a bonus, enter the annual total as an annual salary — the tax will be close but not identical to what your payroll withholds.
Single employees are in class I; single parents who qualify for the relief for single parents are in class II. Married couples and civil partners start in IV/IV and can switch to III/V (higher earner III, lower earner V) or IV with factor. Class VI applies to a second job. Your class is on your payslip and in your ELStAM record at the tax office.
It changes how tax is withheld across the year, not how much the couple owes in total — that is settled by the joint assessment. On €55,000 the Lohnsteuer withheld is €3,802.00 in class III against €8,060.00 in class I and €13,687.00 in class V. III/V suits couples with very different salaries but can mean a back payment after the tax return, which is why couples choosing it must file one.
Members of a church that levies Kirchensteuer pay 8% of their income tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9% in every other state. On €4,000 a month in our example, church tax is €41.96 a month in Bavaria and €47.20 in North Rhine-Westphalia. Leaving the church (Kirchenaustritt) at the registry office ends it.
Each statutory health insurer (Krankenkasse) charges an additional contribution on top of the general 14.6% rate, shared equally with your employer. The official average for 2026 is 2.9%; your own Kasse may charge more or less. Enter its rate under More options for an exact figure.
From age 23, employees without children pay a childless surcharge of 0.6% on care insurance (Pflegeversicherung), paid entirely by the employee. Parents of two or more children under 25 get a reduction of 0.25% for each child from the second to the fifth.
A Minijob pays up to €603 a month (2026) and is mostly free of employee contributions. Between that and €2,000 a month is the transition zone (Übergangsbereich, “Midijob”), where employee social contributions start low and rise gradually. The calculator applies both rules automatically from the monthly gross.
No. Private sales of crypto held for less than a year are taxed under separate rules that this salary calculator does not cover. CryptoTaxOwl’s Germany crypto tax calculator works that out from your exchange files.
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Rules de-2026-r2, checked against BMF (Federal Ministry of Finance) publications on 7 October 2026. MoneyOtter has not had these rules independently reviewed by a tax professional; they are tested against official worked examples and an independent re-implementation. Page reviewed 8 October 2026 · How countries are verified · Changelog · Report an error