Germany: Lohnsteuer, surcharges and four social insurances
Germany is the reason this calculator has more than one input. A German payslip depends on your tax class, the state you are taxed in, whether you belong to a church, how many children you have, and which health insurance you carry, and every one of those changes the number at the bottom. A calculator that asks only for your salary cannot get Germany right.
Income tax is not a table of bands but a formula, set out in § 32a of the Einkommensteuergesetz. Below the basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag, €12,348 in 2026) you pay nothing. Above it the rate climbs continuously from 14% to 42%, which is why there is no clean "band" to point at; the 42% top rate starts at €69,878 and a 45% rate applies above €277,825.
zone 2 (12,349 to 17,799): (914.51y + 1,400) · y y = (x − 12,348) / 10,000 zone 3 (17,800 to 69,878): (173.10z + 2,397) · z + 1,034.87 z = (x − 17,799) / 10,000 zone 4 (69,879 to 277,825): 0.42x − 11,135.63 zone 5 (above 277,825): 0.45x − 19,470.38
Payroll withholding does not apply that formula to your gross salary directly. It first subtracts the employee allowance (€1,230), a flat special-expenses allowance (€36), the single-parent relief in class II (€4,260), and then the Vorsorgepauschale, a deemed deduction for your insurance contributions. That last item is why two people on the same salary with different health insurance take home different amounts.
Two surcharges sit on top of the wage tax rather than on your salary. The solidarity surcharge is 5.5% of wage tax, but only above an exemption limit (€20,350 of wage tax, doubled in class III), with a phase-in of 11.9% of the excess just above it, so most employees pay nothing at all. Church tax is 8% in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9% everywhere else, charged only if you are a registered member. Both are calculated on a base that first subtracts child allowances, so children can remove the surcharge even though they do not change your wage tax.
Then come the four statutory insurances, each split with your employer and each capped:
- Pension 9.3% and unemployment 1.3%, on pay up to €101,400 (from 2026 the same ceiling nationwide, east and west).
- Health 7.3% plus half of your fund's additional contribution rate (Zusatzbeitrag, averaging 2.9% in 2026), on pay up to €69,750. Every Krankenkasse sets its own, so two people on the same salary can take home different amounts.
- Long-term care 1.8%, on the same ceiling, plus 0.6 points if you are 23 or older with no children, and minus 0.25 points for each child after the first up to the fifth. Saxony splits it differently: employees pay 2.3% and employers 1.3%.
Worked example: €50,000, class I, Bavaria, no church, no children
Vorsorgepauschale: 9.3% of €50,000 for pension (€4,650) plus 10.85% for health and care (€5,425) = €10,075.
Taxable income: €50,000 − €1,266 in flat allowances − €10,075 = €38,659, which the zone-3 formula turns into €6,788 of wage tax. That is below the solidarity-surcharge limit, so no surcharge is due.
Contributions: pension €4,650, unemployment €650, health €4,375, care €1,200 (1.8% + 0.6% childless surcharge) = €10,875.
Take-home: €50,000 − €6,788 − €10,875 = €32,337 a year, €2,694.75 a month.
Two thresholds change the rules entirely at the bottom of the scale. A Minijob (up to €603 a month) carries no income tax and no health, care or unemployment contributions; the employer pays flat-rate contributions instead. Between €603.01 and €2,000 a month you are in the Übergangsbereich, where your contributions are calculated on a reduced base that rises gradually to the full amount, and the employer covers the difference. The calculator detects both and says so.