Germany: €20,000 a year gross → €15,639 net
Under 2026 rules a single employee with no children earning €20,000 gross a year in Germany takes home €15,639 a year (€1,303 a month). The employer’s total cost is €24,463 a year.
A sourced payroll calculator for the EU
Salary calculator Germany 2026
Gross, net or the total cost?
Type any one of the three and we fill in the other two, for all 27 member states, under each country’s 2026 rules. Every line names its legal rate, its source and how far it was checked.
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Germany, per year
This is below Germany’s full-time minimum wage of €2,409 a month, so it is calculated as part-time pay.
Of every 100 of gross salary
Of the next 100 of gross, 54.53 reaches the employee. Headline top income-tax rate in Germany: 45% above €277,826 (+5.5% Soli). Marginal and effective rates differ from it.
Where the employer’s €24,463 goes
Übergangsbereich factor F = 0.6619 for 2026, as published by the Federal Ministry of Labour.
Wage tax follows the BMF PAP 2026, which bases the Vorsorgepauschale on the full wage (also in the Übergangsbereich).
Employer accident insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft) is not included.
Not included: Private health insurance (PKV) instead of statutory health insurance; Minijob (≤ €603 a month) flat-rate employer levies; Joint assessment of married couples (classes III/V and IV are withholding splits; the factor method is not included); Aktivrente (€2,000 a month tax-free past the statutory retirement age) and contribution rules for employees above retirement age; Employer accident insurance (Berufsgenossenschaft), which depends on sector and hazard class; Other ELStAM allowances (commuting, high work expenses) and the extra single-parent relief from the 2nd child; Church-tax caps (Kappung) and the minimum church tax in some Länder.
A calculation under general rules, not individual tax advice.
Germany payroll in 2026 at a glance
- Currency
- EUR
- Salary payments a year
- 12
- Statutory minimum wage (full-time, monthly)
- €2,409
- Headline top income-tax rate
- 45% above €277,826 (+5.5% Soli)
- Calculation complexity
- High
Questions that change the result
- Household
- Dependent children
- Church tax
- Region or municipality
- Your age
- Tax class (Steuerklasse)
- Child allowance per child
- Your health fund's add-on rate (Zusatzbeitrag), %
- Recognised degree of disability (GdB)
- Employer has 30 or fewer employees (sick-pay levy U1)
Frequently asked questions
How much is €3,000 gross a month in Germany after tax?
A single employee with no children earning €3,000 gross a month in Germany takes home about €2,054 net under 2026 rules: €653 goes to employee social contributions and €293 to income tax. The employer pays €652 on top, so the total employer cost is €3,652.
How much does an employee cost an employer in Germany?
On a gross salary of €3,000 a month the employer pays €652 in contributions, 21.74% of gross, for a total cost of €3,652.
Which gross salary gives €2,000 net in Germany?
For €2,000 net a month a single employee needs about €2,904 gross, which costs the employer €3,535.
Are these figures exact?
They follow the general 2026 rules for Germany, with every legal rate and its source shown line by line. Personal circumstances, collective agreements and employer-specific rates can change the result, so treat them as a careful estimate, not individual tax advice.