How our German salary calculator works
A net salary is only as good as the calculation behind it. This page sets out the rules our calculator follows, how we check them automatically, what it deliberately does not model and how to report an error.
Tax year 2026 · Figures last verified: June 2026 · Engine: Lohnsteuer2026.xml, version of October 23, 2025
Engine: the official payroll tax algorithm
Every year the German Federal Ministry of Finance publishes a program flowchart (Programmablaufplan, PAP) for computing wage tax by machine. Payroll software implements it. Our calculator implements the 2026 PAP (published November 12, 2025) from its pseudocode Lohnsteuer2026.xml, version of October 23, 2025.
Computed per the PAP: wage tax in all six tax classes with the official pension-provision allowance, the solidarity surcharge with its exemption limit and phase-in zone, and the church-tax base, which takes child allowances into account. Tax classes V and VI use the official special procedure.
Social contributions (pension, unemployment, health and long-term care insurance) are computed from the 2026 contribution rates and ceilings, including mini-jobs, the transition zone, the childless care surcharge and the reduction for children.
Automated check against official test values
The PAP comes with two official test tables (Anlage 1, S. 39 und 40) listing annual wage tax for selected gross salaries in all six tax classes. Before every release our engine is tested automatically against all 516 values. If even one value is off by one euro, the check fails.
| Test table | Case | Values |
|---|---|---|
| General annual wage tax (allgemeine) | insured in every statutory branch | 258 |
| Special annual wage tax (besondere) | insured in no statutory branch: private health and care insurance, no statutory pension or unemployment insurance | 258 |
| Total | 516 | |
What the check covers and what it does not
- The private health insurance path you select in the calculator (privately health and care insured, but in statutory pension and unemployment insurance) is not part of the official tables. It follows the PAP and is secured by our own tests, not by official test values.
- The test tables contain annual wage tax only. The solidarity surcharge, church tax and social contributions (per the 2026 figures below) are secured by our own tests. The calculator runs the same engine with the PAP’s monthly pay period.
- Not modelled: the factor method (tax class IV with factor), one-off payments such as holiday or Christmas bonuses and severance, benefits in kind such as a company car, pension payments, the old-age relief amount and allowances registered for wage tax.
- An individual payslip can therefore differ. The calculator gives a non-binding estimate and replaces neither a payslip nor tax advice.
Statutory figures 2026
These are the values the engine uses. The page reads them directly from the code.
| Basic allowance (Grundfreibetrag) | €12,348 a year (§ 32a EStG) |
|---|---|
| Employee lump sum | €1,230 a year |
| Solidarity surcharge | 5.5% of wage tax, exemption limit €20,350 of wage tax a year (tax class III: €40,700) |
| Church tax | 9% of wage tax, 8% in Bavaria and Baden-WĂĽrttemberg |
| Pension insurance | 9.3% employee share, up to €101,400 a year |
| Unemployment insurance | 1.3% employee share, up to €101,400 a year |
| Health insurance | 7.3% plus half the top-up (2026 average: 2.9%), up to €69,750 a year |
| Long-term care insurance | 1.8% employee share (Saxony 2.3%), 2.4% if childless and 23 or older, 0.25 points less per child from the 2nd child, up to €69,750 a year |
| Mini-job | up to €603 a month |
| Transition zone (midijob) | up to €2,000 a month |
Calculator defaults
Until you change anything, the calculator assumes North Rhine-Westphalia, age 30, no children, no church tax and statutory health insurance with the average top-up contribution of 2.9%. The assumptions are always shown right under the result.
Freshness
Tax year 2026. The figures were last verified in June 2026. The date only changes with an actual re-verification.
Responsibility and corrections
The calculator is published by Nomado24 UG (haftungsbeschränkt). Anton Petuchow, co-founder and managing director, is responsible for the methodology. If you find an error, send us your gross salary, tax class, federal state and, if possible, the figures from your payslip. Confirmed errors are fixed in the engine, after which the automated check runs again.
Sources
- BMF: Programmablaufplan Lohnsteuer 2026
- § 32a EStG (Einkommensteuertarif)
- Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen 2026 (BMAS)
- § 241 SGB V (allgemeiner Beitragssatz Krankenversicherung)
- § 242a SGB V (durchschnittlicher Zusatzbeitragssatz)
- § 55 SGB XI (Beitragssatz Pflegeversicherung)
- § 341 SGB III (Beitragssatz Arbeitslosenversicherung)
- § 3 SolZG 1995 (Freigrenze Solidaritätszuschlag)
- § 8 SGB IV (Geringfügigkeitsgrenze)
- § 20 SGB IV (Übergangsbereich)