The salary in a German job offer is your gross pay (Brutto). What reaches your bank account each month is your net pay (Netto), and the gap is wider than in many countries: on top of tax, every employee pays into four social insurances. This guide goes through each line of a German payslip for 2026, in English, with every figure worked out live by our Germany net salary calculator.
The calculator follows the payroll program (Programmablaufplan) that the Federal Ministry of Finance publishes each year for employers’ payroll software, so the monthly figures are the ones a German payroll produces for a regular monthly salary.Federal Ministry of Finance
The short answer
On a €60,000 salary in tax class I, living in Berlin, with no children and not a church member, you take home €3,130.09 a month in 2026, or €37,561 a year. Deductions take 37.4% of your gross pay.
| Line | Year | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €60,000.00 | €5,000.00 |
| Wage tax (Lohnsteuer) | €9,388.92 | €782.41 |
| Pension insurance | €5,580.00 | €465.00 |
| Unemployment insurance | €780.00 | €65.00 |
| Health insurance | €5,250.00 | €437.50 |
| Long-term care insurance | €1,440.00 | €120.00 |
| Net pay | €37,561.08 | €3,130.09 |
Tax is the smaller part of that. Wage tax for the year is €9,388.92, while the four social insurance contributions together come to more. The rest of this guide explains each line.
What comes off a German payslip
A German payslip (Gehaltsabrechnung) has two groups of deductions. First, the taxes:
- Wage tax (Lohnsteuer): income tax withheld from each month’s pay.
- Solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag, often “Soli”): a surcharge on the wage tax that only higher earners still pay.
- Church tax (Kirchensteuer): only if you belong to a church that levies it.
Second, the social insurance contributions, each shared between you and your employer:
- Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung)
- Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung)
- Health insurance (Krankenversicherung)
- Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung)
Your employer pays its own share of the social insurances on top of your salary, so it never appears as a deduction on your payslip. The Germany employer cost calculator shows that side of the bill.
Wage tax and your annual income tax
Wage tax is not a separate tax. It is income tax (Einkommensteuer) that your employer collects in advance. Each month, the payroll works out the tax for a whole year as if that month’s pay continued all year, then withholds one twelfth of it.
Before any tax rate applies, the payroll deducts allowances that every employee gets: an employee allowance (Arbeitnehmer-Pauschbetrag) of €1,230 for work expenses, a special expenses allowance of €36, and a deduction for part of your social insurance contributions (Vorsorgepauschale).Federal Ministry of Justice The tax tariff then leaves the first €12,348 of taxable income untaxed. That is the basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag).Federal Ministry of Justice
Your tax class (Steuerklasse) decides which allowances are built in. Single people are in class I, and married couples choose between IV/IV and III/V. On €60,000, wage tax for the year is €9,388.92 in class I but €4,821.96 in class III, because class III taxes one salary at the rate for a married couple. Our guide to German tax classes explains all six.
After the year ends, the tax office (Finanzamt) can set your actual income tax in an assessment, based on your tax return (Steuererklärung). The wage tax already withheld counts towards it. If your work expenses were higher than the employee allowance, or you have other deductions, you may get money back. Some people have to file a return, including married couples who use classes III and V.Federal Ministry of Justice The German income tax rates guide explains the tariff behind all of this.
The solidarity surcharge: who still pays it
The solidarity surcharge is 5.5% of your income tax or wage tax. Most employees no longer pay it at all, because it is only charged once the tax for the year is above €20,350. For married couples assessed jointly the threshold is €40,700, and that is also the figure the payroll uses in class III. Just above the threshold the surcharge is phased in: it can’t be more than 11.9% of the amount by which the tax exceeds the threshold.Federal Ministry of Justice
In tax class I without children, a €90,000 salary pays €0.00 in solidarity surcharge. At €100,000 it is €344.64 for the year, and at €120,000 it is €1,337.88. If you have children, the surcharge is worked out on the tax after the child allowances, so parents start paying it at higher salaries.
Church tax, and leaving the church
If you are a member of a church that levies church tax, mainly the Catholic and Protestant churches, your employer withholds church tax along with your wage tax. The state collects it on the churches’ behalf. It is 8% of the wage tax in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9% in the other fourteen states.Federal Ministry of Finance
On €60,000 in class I, church tax is €844.92 a year in Berlin and €751.08 in Bavaria. In Berlin that takes monthly net pay from €3,130.09 down to €3,059.68.
Your church membership is part of the electronic tax data (ELStAM) that your employer receives from the tax authorities, so you don’t arrange church tax with your employer yourself.Federal Ministry of Justice Some members decide to leave the church (Kirchenaustritt). This is a formal declaration made under the rules of your federal state, and once it takes effect church tax is no longer withheld. It is a personal decision, and this guide takes no view on it.
Some states also cap church tax for high earners or set a minimum amount. The calculator, like the Federal Ministry of Finance’s own wage tax calculator, does not apply those rules.
The four social insurances in 2026
Each insurance is a percentage of your gross pay, up to a contribution ceiling (Beitragsbemessungsgrenze). Pay above the ceiling is free of that contribution.Federal Ministry of Justice
| Insurance | Total rate | Your share | Ceiling a month | Ceiling a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pension | 18.6% | 9.3% | €8,450 | €101,400 |
| Unemployment | 2.6% | 1.3% | €8,450 | €101,400 |
| Health | 14.6% plus the fund’s add-on | Half of both | €5,812.50 | €69,750 |
| Long-term care | 3.6% | 1.8%, more if childless | €5,812.50 | €69,750 |
On €60,000 your own contributions for the year are €5,580.00 for pension, €780.00 for unemployment, €5,250.00 for health and €1,440.00 for long-term care. Your employer pays a matching share on top.
Health insurance has a second part. Each public health insurance fund (Krankenkasse) sets its own additional contribution (Zusatzbeitrag), and you and your employer pay half each. The official average for 2026 is 2.9%, which the calculator uses unless you enter your own fund’s rate.Federal Ministry of Health If you earn more than €77,400 a year, you may choose private health insurance instead. Private premiums depend on the insurer, your age and your health, so the calculator assumes public insurance.
The ceilings are why the share of pay that goes on social insurance falls at higher salaries. Health and care contributions stop growing above €69,750 a year, and pension and unemployment contributions above €101,400. On €110,000 or €120,000 alike, your pension contribution is €9,430.20 for the year.
Saxony is the one state with a different split. Because it kept a public holiday that the other states gave up to fund care insurance, employees there pay 1% of the care rate on their own, and only the rest is split with the employer. On €60,000 care insurance costs €1,740.00 a year in Saxony, against €1,440.00 in Berlin.Federal Ministry of Justice
The childless surcharge on care insurance
If you have no children, from the month after you reach the age of 23 you pay a care insurance surcharge of 0.6% on top of your share, and your employer does not share it. Parents don’t pay the surcharge. From the second child to the fifth, the parent’s rate also falls by 0.25% for each child, as long as that child is under 25.Federal Ministry of Justice
On €60,000, care insurance costs a childless employee €1,440.00 a year. With one child it is €1,080.00, and with two children €930.00. Not all of that saving reaches your net pay. Lower contributions also mean a smaller deduction for them in the wage tax calculation, so wage tax rises slightly, from €9,388.92 to €9,510.96 with one child. Monthly net pay goes from €3,130.09 to €3,149.92.
Child benefit (Kindergeld) of €259 a month per child is paid separately by the family benefits office (Familienkasse), so it never appears on your payslip.Federal Ministry of Justice
Why your payslip might differ
If your own payslip doesn’t match the calculator, one of these is usually the reason:
- Your health fund’s add-on. Funds charge more or less than the average. Enter your fund’s rate in the calculator’s advanced settings.
- One-off payments. A 13th month’s salary, holiday pay or a bonus is taxed as an “other payment” (sonstiger Bezug) in the month it is paid. The calculator spreads your annual salary evenly over twelve months.
- Personal allowances. An allowance entered on your tax data (Freibetrag), the factor method for married couples, a company car or other benefits in kind all change the figures, and none of them are included.
- Private health insurance. The calculator covers public insurance only.
- Low pay. On a Minijob or in the Midijob range, social insurance works differently. Our Minijob and Midijob guide explains both.
Your final tax for the year is set in the assessment, not on your payslip, so a refund or a small bill after you file is normal.
Work out your own net salary
Enter your gross salary, tax class, federal state, church membership and children below to see your own net pay for 2026, per month and per year.
€3,130.09
- Net pay per year
- €37,561
- Wage tax (Lohnsteuer), per year
- €9,388.92
- Solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag), per year
- €0.00
- Church tax (Kirchensteuer), per year
- €0.00
- Pension insurance (Rentenversicherung), per year
- €5,580.00
- Unemployment insurance (Arbeitslosenversicherung), per year
- €780.00
- Health insurance (Krankenversicherung), per year
- €5,250.00
- Long-term care insurance (Pflegeversicherung), per year
- €1,440.00
- Total deductions
- €22,438.92
- Share of gross deducted
- 37.4%
- Deducted from your next euro
- 49%
- Care insurance includes the 0.6% childless surcharge (no children, aged 23 or over).
- Monthly figures follow the BMF payroll program for a regular monthly salary; the year is 12 months. One-off payments, company benefits and tax-card allowances are not included. Your final income tax is set in your tax return.
Net pay: €3,130.09 per month
Show the breakdown
| Line | Year | Month |
|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | €60,000.00 | €5,000.00 |
| Wage tax (Lohnsteuer) | €9,388.92 | €782.41 |
| Pension insurance | €5,580.00 | €465.00 |
| Unemployment insurance | €780.00 | €65.00 |
| Health insurance | €5,250.00 | €437.50 |
| Long-term care insurance | €1,440.00 | €120.00 |
| Net pay | €37,561.08 | €3,130.09 |
- Net pay€37,56163%
- Wage tax, Soli and church tax€9,38916%
- Pension insurance€5,5809%
- Health and care insurance€6,69011%
- Unemployment insurance€7801%
For net pay at common salaries side by side, see €60,000 after tax in Germany. To work out income tax on taxable income for the year, use the Germany income tax calculator, and for prices with or without VAT see German VAT rates.
These figures are estimates for a regular monthly salary with public health insurance, calculated from the Federal Ministry of Finance’s 2026 payroll program and the official 2026 social insurance figures. They are not tax advice.