Short answer
On a gross salary of €4,000 a month in 2026, tax class I in Berlin, no children and no church tax, you take home €2,605.50. The deductions are €524.50 wage tax and €870.00 for health, care, pension and unemployment insurance. The calculator runs the official wage-tax code of the German Ministry of Finance, the same one payroll software uses.
How the German salary calculator works
Two blocks come off your gross salary: taxes and social insurance. Income tax is withheld from every payslip as wage tax (Lohnsteuer). The calculator works it out with the 2026 wage-tax code (Programmablaufplan) of the Federal Ministry of Finance, ported line by line and checked against all 516 values of the ministry's official test tables. It calculates one month, like a payslip. The solidarity surcharge and church tax are based on the wage tax.
Social insurance is a percentage of your gross pay up to a ceiling; pay above the ceiling carries no contributions. Your employer pays roughly the same amount again on top, which does not show as a deduction on your payslip.
Social insurance in 2026: rates and ceilings
- Health insurance: 14.6% plus your insurer's extra rate (2.9% on average in 2026), split half and half. Ceiling €5,812.50 a month (€69,750 a year).
- Long-term care insurance: 3.6%, employee 1.8% (2.3% in Saxony). From age 23 without children 0.6% more; 0.25% less for each child under 25 from the second. Same ceiling as health insurance.
- Pension insurance: 18.6%, employee 9.3%. Ceiling €8,450 a month (€101,400 a year).
- Unemployment insurance: 2.6%, employee 1.3%. Same ceiling as the pension.
Which German tax class are you in?
- Class I: single, divorced, widowed (from the second year after) or permanently separated.
- Class II: single parent with the child living in your household.
- Classes III and V: married, one partner earns much more. Class III pays little each month, class V a lot; the tax return evens it out.
- Class IV: married, both earn about the same. Class IV with a factor spreads the tax more precisely; the calculator does not model the factor.
- Class VI: your second and any further job, with no basic allowance.
Examples for 2026 (Berlin, no church tax, extra rate 2.9%)
- €3,000 gross a month, class I, no children: €293.08 wage tax, €652.50 social insurance, €2,054.42 net.
- €4,000 gross a month, class I, no children: €524.50 wage tax, €870.00 social insurance, €2,605.50 net. With church tax (9%) €47.20 less.
- €4,000 gross a month, class V: €944.91 wage tax, €2,185.09 net.
- €5,000 gross a month, class III, two children: €412.83 wage tax, €1,045.00 social insurance, €3,542.17 net.
- €6,000 gross a month, class I: health insurance stops at €5,812.50; €1,074.33 wage tax, €3,641.58 net.
What the calculator leaves out
Private health insurance, minijobs up to €603, allowances registered on your tax card, one-off payments such as holiday or Christmas pay, the factor in class IV, the church-tax cap and benefits in kind such as a company car. Your annual tax return can still change the result, for example when work expenses exceed the €1,230 flat allowance.
Sources, checked on 8 November 2026: BMF Programmablaufplan Lohnsteuer 2026 · BMF Steuerrechner (Pseudocode) · Sozialversicherungs-Rechengrößen 2026 (BMAS) · Übergangsbereich, § 20 Abs. 2a SGB IV · Pflegeversicherung, § 55 SGB XI
Freelancing on the side in Germany? QuickBilling writes invoices that meet § 14 UStG, including the small-business rule, and shows you when your client opens them: create an invoice for free.