In short
In Germany your employer deducts wage tax, often a solidarity surcharge and church tax, and your share of four social insurances from your gross pay. This calculator works out your 2026 net pay per month with the official formula of the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) and the 2026 contribution rates.
What is deducted from your salary
Wage tax (Lohnsteuer) is an advance payment on your income tax. It depends on your tax class and already takes into account the basic allowance of €12,348, the employee allowance of €1,230 and part of your social insurance contributions. The solidarity surcharge of 5.5% applies only to high wage tax. Church members pay church tax of 8% (Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg) or 9% of the wage tax.
Your share of social insurance in 2026: health insurance 7.3% plus half your insurer's additional rate, long-term care 1.8% (2.3% in Saxony), pension 9.3% and unemployment 1.3%. Health and care contributions stop at €5,812.50 a month, pension and unemployment at €8,450.
Worked example
A single employee without children in tax class I earning €4,000 a month pays €524.50 wage tax, no solidarity surcharge, €350.00 health insurance (with a 2.9% additional rate), €96.00 long-term care (including the 0.6% childless surcharge), €372.00 pension and €52.00 unemployment insurance. That leaves €2,605.50 net. As a church member in North Rhine-Westphalia another €47.20 goes, leaving €2,558.30.
The same €4,000 in tax class III leaves €2,928.17, and in tax class V €2,185.09. Classes III and V together are meant for married couples with very different incomes; the difference evens out in the yearly tax return.
Children, midijobs and minijobs
Children do not lower wage tax: they are supported through child benefit (Kindergeld), and because care contributions are lower with children, wage tax can even be slightly higher. Children do lower the solidarity surcharge and church tax, and long-term care insurance: without children, people aged 23 and over pay an extra 0.6%; from the second child under 25 the rate falls by 0.25 points per child, up to the fifth.
Up to €603 a month is a minijob: usually the employer pays a flat tax and you pay only 3.6% to the pension insurance. From €603.01 to €2,000 (the midijob range) your social insurance contributions are reduced and rise gradually to the full rate at €2,000. The calculator applies both rules. In tax class VI (a second job) the midijob reduction does not apply, because pay from all jobs is added together.
Frequently asked questions
Which tax class am I in?
Single people are in class I, single parents who live with their child in class II. Married couples and civil partners are in class IV by default, or can choose III and V. Class VI applies to a second job. Your tax class is shown on your payslip.
Why is my payslip slightly different?
Allowances entered with the tax office, company pension, benefits in kind, one-off payments such as holiday or Christmas pay, and private health insurance all change the result. The calculator covers the common case: statutory health insurance, no extra allowances, under 64.
Why do children not reduce my wage tax?
During the year children are supported through child benefit. The child allowance is only used for the solidarity surcharge and church tax, and in the tax return, where the tax office checks whether the allowance is worth more than the child benefit.
Does the calculator work for a yearly salary?
Enter your monthly salary: divide a yearly salary by 12, or by 13 or 14 if part of it is paid as a 13th or 14th month. The yearly net shown is twelve times the monthly net.
Who pays the solidarity surcharge?
Since 2021 only about the top tenth of earners. In 2026 it is due when the yearly wage tax exceeds €20,350 (€40,700 in class III), and it phases in gradually above that.
Methodology
Wage tax, solidarity surcharge and church-tax base follow the BMF Programmablaufplan for 2026 (monthly pay period), including the 2026 Vorsorgepauschale with unemployment insurance and the €1,900 limit, rounded exactly as prescribed; results were checked to the cent against an independent implementation of that plan in 20,000 cases. Employee social insurance uses the 2026 rates and ceilings; in the midijob range the reduced base 2000/(2000 − 603) × (gross − 603) applies, and the childless surcharge uses the total base with Faktor F = 0.6619.
This calculator gives estimates for information only and is not tax advice. Your actual payslip depends on your personal circumstances and the information your employer holds.
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