🇩🇪 Germany net salary calculator (Brutto-Netto)
Your net salary in Germany is your gross minus income tax (§32a EStG), the solidarity surcharge and roughly 20% in social contributions up to their ceilings.
✓ Verified against 2 self-test cases Updated for 2025 · sources checked 2026-08-02
How net salary in Germany is calculated
Germany taxes employment income progressively. First, social contributions come off the gross: pension (9.3%) and unemployment (1.3%) up to the 96,600 EUR ceiling, and health (7.3% plus half the average insurer add-on) and long-term care (1.8%, plus a 0.6-point surcharge if you are childless and over 23) up to the 66,150 EUR ceiling.
What remains, after the 1,230 EUR employee allowance and a 36 EUR lump sum, is your taxable income (zu versteuerndes Einkommen, zvE). Income tax is computed from the §32a EStG tariff: nothing up to the 12,096 EUR basic allowance, then a rising marginal rate up to 42% (45% for very high incomes).
A 5.5% solidarity surcharge applies only where the tax exceeds the relief floor, so most employees pay none. Church tax (8% or 9% of the income tax) is optional and off by default. The calculator exposes children and church membership because both change the result; the defaults model a single, childless employee.
Worked example
| grossAnnual | 48000 |
|---|---|
| children | 0 |
| churchRate | 0 |
| solidaritySurcharge | 0 |
| churchTax | 0 |
Frequently asked questions
How much tax do you pay on 48,000 EUR in Germany?
On a 48,000 EUR gross salary the model applies pension and unemployment contributions on the full amount, health and care contributions up to their ceiling, then income tax on the remaining taxable income under the §32a EStG tariff. No solidarity surcharge is due at this level and church tax is optional.
What is the difference between gross and net salary in Germany?
Gross (brutto) is your contractual salary; net (netto) is what reaches your account after social contributions, income tax, any solidarity surcharge and optional church tax. Roughly a fifth of gross goes to social contributions before tax is even calculated.
Does the childless surcharge apply to me?
The long-term care insurance rate carries a 0.6-point surcharge for employees over 23 with no children. Set the children field above zero to remove it — the net figure updates immediately.
Sources
- BMF Brutto-Netto-Rechner (official calculator) · checked 2026-08-02
- §32a EStG — income tax tariff · checked 2026-08-02
Estimate. Not tax advice. The verification badge means the model reproduces the stated formula through 2 self-test cases; the sources support that the formula matches the rules.
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