Gross Net Salary Calculator Germany

• Class 1: Single, widowed, divorced, or legally separated individuals, or individuals in a civil partnership whose spouse lives abroad.
• Class 2: Single parents.
• Class 3: Married couples where one spouse has a significantly higher income than the other and both spouses reside in Germany. The higher-earning spouse is in tax Class 3, while the lower-earning spouse is in tax Class 5 at the request of both spouses.
• Class 4: Married couples where both spouses have similar wages and both reside in Germany and are not separated.
• Class 5: Married couples where one spouse, at the request of both spouses, is in tax Class 3.
• Class 6: Employees who receive multiple wages from multiple employers.

Married couples can choose a combination of tax classes 3/5 or 4/4. In the first case, the higher-earning spouse in tax bracket 3 receives a doubled basic tax exemption, while the lower-earning spouse in tax bracket 5 receives no basic tax exemption. In the combination of tax groups 4/4, both spouses receive the basic tax exemption.

Married couples who are both residents of Germany are the only ones eligible to choose a combination of tax Classes 3 and 5. If one spouse is awaiting their visa in their home country, the couple will be placed in tax Class 1 until the spouse is also registered in Germany. At that point, they can request a change in tax class.

Single parents in Tax Class 2 are entitled to an extra tax allowance called "Entlastungsbetrag für Alleinerziehende."

Throughout the year, married couples and single parents can apply to modify their tax class.

Since January 1, 2020, spouses and civil partners can change their income tax class many times within a year. The change of tax class can be done through the ELSTER webpage, or at the tax office in the district where the spouses reside at the time the application is filed. It must be signed by both spouses and then sent to the tax office.

Parents can receive a child allowance for their children when they pay their taxes. The child allowance is intended to ensure that all children have the minimum subsistence level. If the parents do not exceed a certain amount, their income remains tax-free.

Child allowance affects the monthly deduction of the solidarity surcharge and church tax. However, the child allowance does not affect the monthly deduction of the income tax, this is taken into account in the annual tax assessment.

The main difference between "Kindergeld" and "Kinderfreibetrag" is that "Kindergeld" is transferred to your account monthly. "Kinderfreibetrag" on the other hand, is not paid monthly but is taken into account by the tax office during the annual tax assessment.

This applies in general: the parents are entitled either to the child benefit or to the child allowance. It is not possible to receive the child benefit and then try to deduct the full child allowance from the income tax.

1. For married couples in tax class 4:
   • If they have one child, each parent is allocated a numerator of 1.0.
   • If they have two children, each parent is allocated a numerator of 2.0.
2. For married couples in tax classes 3 and 5:
   • The entire child allowance is allocated to the partner in tax class 3.
3. For unmarried couples in tax class 1 or single parents in tax class 2:
   • Each child is allocated a numerator of 0.5.

• Solidarity surcharge.
• Church tax.
• Care insurance.

Everyone who works in Germany is required to participate in a pension plan. Over time, your contributions accumulate to provide you with a basic pension for your retirement. If you are self-employed you can choose whether to join the statutory pension insurance or set up a private pension plan. The pension insurance contribution rate has been constant at 18.6% since January 1, 2018. Pension insurance is equally shared between employees and employers.

Unemployment insurance is part of the social security system in Germany. The contribution rate for unemployment insurance is 2.6% of the gross salary, equally shared between the employees and employers. This is effective from January 1, 2023, until December 31, 2026.

Everyone is subject to compulsory health insurance contributions. Self-employed people or employees who earn more than €73,800 a year (the 2025 insurance obligation threshold) can choose between private health insurance or a voluntary contribution to statutory health insurance.

The contribution to statutory health insurance is 14.6% of the gross salary and is equally divided between the employees and employers. 7.3% is deducted directly from the gross salary and the remaining 7.3% is contributed by the employer. Additionally, there is a supplementary contribution based on the income of the individual health insurance fund. For 2025, the nationwide average supplementary rate published by the Federal Ministry of Health is 1.7% of the gross salary.

• Statutory or Public - Public health insurance system. Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung) is also covered by public health insurance. The amount paid for health insurance is equally divided between employers and employees.
• Private (no subsidy) - Private health insurance where the employee bears the whole cost.
• Private (with subsidy) - Private health insurance where the insurance cost is shared between employers and employees.

Starting from July 1, 2023, a new contribution rate applies to long-term care insurance in Germany. The general contribution rate is now 3.4% (previously 3.05%), and the surcharge for individuals without children is 0.6% (previously 0.35%). Families with more than one child under the age of 25 receive discounts, as shown in the table below. The discount for families with children only affects the employee's share. The discount is applied only to children under 25 years old, specifically for the second to fifth child.