Brutto Netto calculator Germany 2026: salary after tax
Enter your monthly gross pay, tax class and federal state to see the net pay a German employer pays out in 2026, line by line.
Results
Net pay
€3.130,09
You keep 62,60%.
- Income tax a month
- €782,41
- Marginal rate with contributions
- 48,50%
- Net pay a year
- €37.561,08
- Income tax a year
- €9.388,92
- Employer cost a year
- €72.690,00
Side by side
| Item | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €5.000,00 | €60.000,00 |
| Lohnsteuer (wage tax) | €782,41 | €9.388,92 |
| Solidaritätszuschlag (Soli) | €0,00 | €0,00 |
| Pension insurance | €465,00 | €5.580,00 |
| Unemployment insurance | €65,00 | €780,00 |
| Health insurance | €437,50 | €5.250,00 |
| Care insurance | €120,00 | €1.440,00 |
| Total deductions | €1.869,91 | €22.438,92 |
| Net pay | €3.130,09 | €37.561,08 |
| Item | A month | A year |
|---|---|---|
| Employer pension insurance | €465,00 | €5.580,00 |
| Employer unemployment insurance | €65,00 | €780,00 |
| Employer health insurance | €437,50 | €5.250,00 |
| Employer care insurance | €90,00 | €1.080,00 |
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Pay for the year | €60.000,00 |
| Less the Pauschbeträge (work, Sonderausgaben, single parent) | €1.266,00 |
| Less the Vorsorgepauschale | €12.090,00 |
| Taxable income (zvE) | €46.644,00 |
| Wage tax for the year | €9.389,00 |
| Wage tax for the month (a twelfth, cut to the cent) | €782,41 |
The Programmablaufplan works on the month as a year (pay times 12), then takes a twelfth of the tax.
What this does not include
- Shows the wage tax an employer withholds under the BMF Programmablaufplan, not the income tax set by the Finanzamt after the year. A refund or a bill can follow the tax return.
- Work expenses above the Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag, Sonderausgaben, allowances entered on the tax card (Freibeträge) and the comparison of Kindergeld with the child allowance are not included.
- Bonuses and other one off pay (sonstige Bezüge), pensions from a former employer, the age relief amount and the factor method of class IV are not included.
- Church tax is the state rate on the church tax base. Capping on application and minimum church tax are not included.
- Contributions are for one job with statutory pension and unemployment insurance. Civil servants and short term work are not covered here, and Minijob and Midijob pay has its own calculator on this site.
- The childless care surcharge is charged when no child is entered. A parent whose children are all past the age limit pays no surcharge either: enter one child to show that.
- The employer cost includes pension, unemployment, health and care contributions only. The U1 and U2 levies, the insolvency levy and accident insurance are not included.
- The care insurance rate is the one published for this tax year.
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For information only, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Last updated . Method checked . Rates checked 3 November 2026. Methodology
A German payslip turns gross pay (Brutto) into net pay (Netto) in two steps. The employer withholds wage tax (Lohnsteuer), with the solidarity surcharge and church tax where they apply, and takes off the employee's half of pension, unemployment, health and care insurance. This calculator runs the official BMF wage tax plan for 2026 on one month of pay, the way payroll software does, for tax classes I to VI, and applies each insurance rate up to its ceiling. A single employee in class I earning €5.000 a month, with no children, no church tax and the average Zusatzbeitrag, receives €3.130,09 net. Amounts are in euros in German number format, and the figures you type stay in this browser tab.
How to use the Germany Brutto Netto Calculator
- Type your gross pay for one month, or set Pay per to Year and enter the yearly salary.
- Choose your tax class, the federal state you work in and whether you pay church tax. Tip: The tax class is printed on the payslip as Steuerklasse; the state sets the church tax rate and, in Sachsen, the care split.
- Enter the number of children under 25 and the child allowances on your tax card, then switch off Aged 23 or over if you are younger. Tip: The child allowances lower only Soli and church tax. A child also lowers care insurance, which raises the Lohnsteuer a little through the Vorsorgepauschale: €792,58 instead of €782,41 a month at €5.000.
- Open More options to enter your health fund's own Zusatzbeitrag, or a private health premium and the employer's subsidy.
- Read the net pay a month, then the breakdown for each tax and insurance and the employer's cost beside it.
Worked example
A single employee in Nordrhein-Westfalen, tax class I, earns €5.000 a month in 2026. There are no children, the employee is over 23, is not a church member and the health fund charges the average Zusatzbeitrag. Amounts are in euros.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Gross pay a month | €5.000 |
| Tax class | I |
| Federal state | Nordrhein-Westfalen, no church tax |
| Health fund Zusatzbeitrag | 2,9% |
Pension = 9,3% x €5.000 = €465,00 and unemployment = 1,3% x €5.000 = €65,00, half of 18,6% and of 2,6% Health = (7,3% + 1,45%) x €5.000 = €437,50, half the general rate of 14,6% and half the Zusatzbeitrag Care = (1,8% + 0,6% childless surcharge) x €5.000 = €120,00 Lohnsteuer: the plan treats €5.000 as €60.000 a year, takes off €1.266 of Pauschbeträge and a Vorsorgepauschale of €12.090, taxes €46.644 at €9.389 and keeps a twelfth cut to the cent, €782,41 Soli = €0,00, because the wage tax for the year is under the exemption limit of €20.350 Net pay = €5.000 - €782,41 - €465,00 - €65,00 - €437,50 - €120,00 = €3.130,09 Employer cost = €5.000 + €465,00 + €65,00 + €437,50 + €90,00 of care = €6.057,50 a month
- Net pay a month
- €3.130,09
- Net pay for the year, twelve monthly runs
- €37.561,08
- Lohnsteuer for the year, 12 x €782,41
- €9.388,92
- Employee social insurance for the year
- €13.050,00
- Employer cost for the year
- €72.690,00
- Marginal rate with contributions
- 48,50%
Wage tax from the BMF Programmablaufplan 2026 run for one month, contribution rates and ceilings from the 2026 rates file, checked on 3 November 2026. The BMF Lohnsteuerrechner gives the same €782,41 for this month.
How it is calculated
Net pay = gross pay - Lohnsteuer - Soli - church tax - pension - unemployment - health - care
Each insurance = the employee rate x pay up to its ceiling
Lohnsteuer for a month = the tax on (pay x 12 - Pauschbeträge - Vorsorgepauschale) / 12, cut to the cent
Church tax = the state rate x the church tax base
Social insurance is the larger deduction for most employees. Pension insurance is 18,6% of pay and unemployment insurance 2,6%, each split equally with the employer, on pay up to €8.450 a month. Health insurance is the general rate of 14,6% plus the fund's own Zusatzbeitrag, again half each, and care insurance is 3,6%; both stop at €5.812,50 a month. Above those ceilings a raise adds only tax.
Care insurance is the one line that depends on the family. Without children an employee aged 23 or over pays the childless surcharge alone, and parents of two to five children under 25 pay a reduced share. In Sachsen the employee pays 2,3% and the employer 1,3%, a split set in the care insurance law.
The Lohnsteuer comes from the Programmablaufplan, the program the Federal Ministry of Finance publishes each year for payroll software. For a monthly salary it multiplies the month by twelve, subtracts the Pauschbeträge for work and Sonderausgaben and a Vorsorgepauschale for social insurance, applies the income tax tariff for the tax class and divides the result by twelve. Classes III and V use the splitting and wage tables for married couples, and class VI starts without the basic allowance or the Pauschbeträge.
The solidarity surcharge is 5,5% of the wage tax, but only once the tax for the year passes €20.350 for a single person, with a gentle slope above that line. Church tax is a share of a church tax base, which is the wage tax recomputed with the child allowances, so parents pay less of it.
In the worked example €5.000 a month leaves €3.130,09. Of every further 100 euros of pay, 48,50 euros would go to tax and contributions at this level, because the tariff is still in its progressive zone and every insurance is still below its ceiling.
Frequently asked questions
What is €5.000 gross a month in net pay in 2026?
For a single employee in tax class I with no children, aged 23 or over, outside Sachsen and without church tax, the net pay is €3.130,09. The Lohnsteuer for the month is €782,41, Soli is nil, and the insurances take €465,00 for pension, €65,00 for unemployment, €437,50 for health and €120,00 for care. A church member in Bayern pays €62,59 of church tax on top and keeps €3.067,50.
How much does each tax class change the net pay?
On €60.000 a year in this calculator, the Lohnsteuer for the year is €9.389 in class I or IV, €8.091 in class II with one child, €4.822 in class III, €15.364 in class V and €15.895 in class VI. For the same family details social insurance is the same in every class, so net pay moves only with the tax; in the class II case the child also removes the care surcharge, €360 a year. The class decides what is withheld during the year, not the tax finally due.
Why does the care insurance line change with children?
An employee aged 23 or over with no child pays a surcharge of 0,6% on top of the employee share of 1,8%. With one child the surcharge falls away, and from the second to the fifth child under 25 the employee share drops by 0,25% for each child. On €5.000 a month that is €120,00 without children, €90,00 with one child and €77,50 with two.
What does my employer pay on top of my gross salary?
The employer pays the same pension, unemployment and health shares as the employee and 1,8% of pay for care, without the childless surcharge. On €5.000 a month that comes to €1.057,50, so the job costs €6.057,50 a month or €72.690,00 a year. The insolvency levy, the U1 and U2 levies and accident insurance come on top and are not part of that figure.
Why is the monthly net a cent away from the yearly figure divided by twelve?
Payroll runs the BMF plan for each month: it treats the month's pay as a year, works out the tax and keeps a twelfth, cut down to the cent. Run for the whole of €60.000 at once, the Lohnsteuer is €9.389,00, while twelve monthly runs of €5.000 give €9.388,92. This page shows the monthly run when Pay per is Month and the yearly run when it is Year.
Guides for this tool
Sources
- BMF, XML pseudocode of the Programmablaufplan 2026 for the wage tax, Soli and the church tax base checked 3 November 2026
- BMF, Lohnsteuerrechner 2026, used to check the monthly results checked 3 November 2026
- Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026: the contribution ceilings checked 3 November 2026
- BMG, notice of the average Zusatzbeitrag for 2026 (BAnz AT 10.11.2025 B7) checked 3 November 2026
- SGB XI, section 55: the care rate, the childless surcharge and the reductions for children checked 3 November 2026
- SGB XI, section 58: the employer share of care insurance and the Sachsen split checked 3 November 2026
- SGB V, sections 241 and 249: the general health rate and the halves paid by employee and employer checked 3 November 2026