Company Pension Calculator 2026
With salary conversion you pay part of your gross salary into a German company pension. Tax and social contributions fall, so your take-home pay drops by much less than the amount you pay in. This calculator shows what the contribution really costs you and how much reaches the contract once the employer tops it up.
What the contribution costs you net
EUR / month
Example calculation with default valuesView sources
Your conversion stays inside the 4% band. The amount is entirely free of income tax and social contributions, this is also the range you have a legal right to convert, and it is exactly where your employer saves the contributions that fund the mandatory top-up.
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Your details
Your ordinary monthly gross before the conversion.
The amount you pay from your gross into the company pension.
By law at least 15% is due, collective agreements may differ.
As a percentage of the converted salary. Many employers pay exactly 15%.
Average for 2026: 2.9%. Your own rate is on your insurer’s website.
Childless employees aged 23+ pay a surcharge in long-term care insurance.
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Side by side
Difference-108.08 EUR / month
How the figure adds up
- Converted from the gross
- 200 EUR / month
- Employer top-up
- 30 EUR / month
- Monthly amount reaching the contract
- 230 EUR / month
- Of that free of social contributions
- 230 EUR / month
- Net without the pension
- 2,605.50 EUR / month
- Net with the pension
- 2,497.42 EUR / month
- Funding share
- 53.01 %
- Reduction of the contribution-liable gross
- 200 EUR / month
Good to know
The conversion lowers your contribution-liable gross. That reduces your later statutory pension and also feeds through to sick pay, unemployment benefit and parental allowance, since all three are based on contribution-liable pay.
- In retirement the company pension is taxed in full. If you are in the statutory health scheme you also pay health and long-term care contributions on it, in 2026 with an allowance of 197.75 EUR a month in health insurance.
- The calculator only shows the state support for the contribution. The costs, guarantees and investment performance of the contract are not included, and a poor contract can eat the support.
Non-binding estimate based on PAP 2026 and the 2026 figures. Not tax, pension or investment advice: whether a specific contract is worth it depends on its costs and terms, which this calculator does not know.
The link carries your inputs, not the result: whoever opens it calculates with the current figures.
What does a company pension cost net?
In 2026 a salary conversion into a German company pension is free of income tax up to 676 EUR a month and additionally free of social contributions up to 338 EUR a month, and the employer must add at least 15% of the converted salary wherever the conversion saves them contributions.
The formula
Total contribution = salary conversion plus employer top-up. Taxable gross = gross minus the converted amount, plus the part of the total contribution above 676 EUR a month. Contribution-liable gross = gross minus the converted amount, plus the part of the total above 338 EUR a month. Net cost = net without the pension minus net with it. Funding share = 1 minus net cost divided by the total paid in.
Worked example
Example: on a gross of 4,000 EUR a month you convert 200 EUR. With an employer top-up of 30 EUR, 230 EUR reach the contract while the net cost to you is only 108.08 EUR. That is a funding share of 53.01 percent.
Key figures for 2026
| Free of income tax | up to 8% of the pension ceiling, so 8,112 EUR a year or 676 EUR a month |
|---|---|
| Free of social contributions | up to 4% of the ceiling, so 4,056 EUR a year or 338 EUR a month |
| Employer top-up | at least 15% of the converted salary wherever the employer saves contributions |
| Legal entitlement | to convert up to 4% of the ceiling (§1a para. 1 BetrAVG) |
| Payout in retirement | fully taxable, and liable for health contributions if you are in the statutory scheme |
Figures verified:
How salary conversion works
In a salary conversion you give up part of your future gross pay and your employer pays it into a company pension (§1 para. 2 no. 3 BetrAVG). You have a legal right to convert up to 4% of the pension contribution ceiling, so your employer cannot simply refuse.
The state supports this through two limits, and they do not sit at the same level. Free of income tax are 8% of the pension contribution ceiling, in 2026 that is 8,112 EUR a year or 676 EUR a month (§3 no. 63 EStG). Free of social contributions are only 4%, so 4,056 EUR a year or 338 EUR a month (§1 para. 1 no. 9 SvEV). Between 338 and 676 EUR you save tax but no contributions. Both limits count the whole amount paid in: an employer top-up counts towards them and can push the total over a limit, and the part above is then charged to you like ordinary pay.
On top comes the statutory employer contribution: at least 15% of the converted salary, wherever the employer saves social contributions through the conversion (§1a para. 1a BetrAVG). Since they only save inside the contribution-free band, the mandatory top-up is in practice limited to that band. And if your pay stays above the contribution ceilings even after the conversion, they save nothing at all, so the mandatory top-up falls away even inside the 4% band. Many employers pay more voluntarily, and some collective agreements set their own rates.
The honest part: the conversion lowers your contribution-liable gross, and with it your later statutory pension and the basis for sick pay, unemployment benefit and parental allowance. In retirement the company pension is taxed in full and, in the statutory scheme, carries contributions. The support is real, but it is a shift in time rather than a gift.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does salary conversion really gain me?
- It depends on your marginal tax rate, your social contributions and your employer top-up. Inside the 4% band a euro paid into the contract typically costs you noticeably less than a euro of net pay. The calculator gives you your own funding share rather than a rule of thumb.
- Does my employer have to add a top-up?
- Yes, as a rule. Under §1a para. 1a BetrAVG at least 15% of the converted salary is due wherever the employer saves social contributions through the conversion. Where they save nothing, for instance above the contribution ceiling or beyond the 4% band, the entitlement falls away for that part. Collective agreements may set different terms.
- How much may I convert at most?
- You have a legal right to convert up to 4% of the contribution ceiling, in 2026 that is 338 EUR a month. Up to 8%, so 676 EUR a month, stays free of income tax. Both limits count the whole amount paid in, so the employer top-up counts towards them. Beyond that you can agree more with your employer, but that part is no longer supported.
- Does salary conversion reduce my statutory pension?
- Yes, by the contribution-free part. Only that part leaves the contribution-liable gross, so you collect slightly fewer pension points during that time. The part above the 4% band stays contribution liable and therefore does not reduce the pension. And if your gross stays above the pension contribution ceiling of 8,450 EUR a month even after the conversion, your pension points do not change at all.
- Is the company pension taxed later?
- Yes. What stays untaxed while you pay in is taxed in full when it is paid out (§22 no. 5 EStG). The advantage is that the tax rate in retirement is usually lower than during working life, but that is not guaranteed.
- Do I pay health contributions on the company pension?
- If you are compulsorily insured in the statutory health scheme, yes. In 2026 an allowance of 197.75 EUR a month stays free of health contributions, while long-term care insurance does not grant that allowance. For privately insured people the question does not arise.
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As of (tax year 2026) · last verified:
Sources:
- § 3 Nr. 63 EStG (steuerfrei bis 8 % der BBG)
- § 1 Abs. 1 Satz 1 Nr. 9 SvEV (beitragsfrei bis 4 % der BBG)
- § 1a BetrAVG (Anspruch auf Entgeltumwandlung und 15 % Arbeitgeberzuschuss)
- § 1 BetrAVG (Entgeltumwandlung, Abs. 2 Nr. 3)
- SVBezGrV 2026 (BBG RV 101.400 €, Bezugsgröße 47.460 €)
- § 22 Nr. 5 EStG (nachgelagerte Besteuerung der Leistungen)
- § 226 Abs. 2 SGB V (Freibetrag auf Versorgungsbezüge)
Scope of review: formulas and reference values were checked against the sources listed above, by the Nomado24 editorial team. What is verified is the calculation logic, not your personal situation. Not tax or legal advice.