Do you want to know how much you earn in Germany in Neto? Don’t you know how to calculate that salary?
In this article I will explain to you:
- The reality of German salaries
- Tax categories, as well as withholdings and contributions to “social security”
- Examples of gross wages and net salaries
- As well as calculating your net salary, tax-free and straight to your pocket.
But first you have to know some definitions to be able to provide the data they are going to ask you for, as well as understand where the withholdings that they are going to practice will end up.
Let’s start!
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SALARIES IN GERMANY: THE REALITY
Not everything that glitters is gold, or so we could say about the salaries in the German country. Many believe that a minimum wage in Germany could be around €22,596 and an average salary in Germany about €58,800 per year, and it is true that these salaries are real, but first you must “meet” your two friends “BRUTO (Brutto) AND NET (Net)” since once these two know each other, your idea will not be the same about salaries in Germany.
Here I explain the difference between a Spanish gross salary and a German gross salary. Within this graph you can see the wide difference between the two, but do not trust these two amounts, because really although in Germany more is charged, much more taxes are paid, therefore once the salary withholdings are applied you will not see a big difference with the Spanish salary.
Now you are wondering how much is the monthly withholding of a German salary?
This is very variable, since depending on each person you can pay more, or less taxes, all this will depend on whether you are married or single or if you have children etc…And this is calculated with the famous Steuerklasse (tax category) that will determine the amount you will have to pay for your taxes in Germany.
TAX CATEGORY / STEUERKLASSE IN GERMANY
It is important that you know which category you belong to in Germany so that you can calculate it for yourself.
Below, I refer you to each of them:
- Tax Category / Steuerklasse I: This category includes single, divorced or widowed people, that is, who are not legally united.
- Fiscal Category / Steuerklasse II
This category is for single parents, divorced or widowed parents who have children in chargesand who request a tax reduction. - Tax Category / Steuerklasse III
For married people with a large salary difference or for married people whose partner does not work. This class will be chosen by the person who receives the highest salary. If this type of tax is chosen, you will be obliged to file the income tax return jointly. - Tax Category / Steuerklasse IV
For married people with a similar salary level. - Tax Category / Steuerklasse V
For married people with a large salary difference. This class will be chosen by the person who has the lowest salary. If this type of tax is chosen, you will be obliged to file the income tax return jointly. - Tax Category / Steuerklasse VI
This category applies to anyone who has a second job.
This category also applies, if you do not have the tax number yet.
Therefore where you are going to pay many more taxes is in category one, since you do not have dependent children or you are married, so as you must already assume, where less taxes are paid is in a situation where you are married and you have children.
Obviously this is not there, this represents between 15 – 49 of what is going to be withheld from your salary.
Now we have to add more withholdings that are practiced
TABLE OF WITHDRAWALS IN GERMANY
Tax deductions in Germany
- Solidarity tax 0.87%
- Tax for the Church 1.42% (You can save this tax if you are a member of it, in this link you can get more information)
Contributions to “Social Security” in Germany
- Pension Insurance 9.95%
- Unemployment insurance 1.5%
- Medical Assistance Insurance 8.2%
- Dependency Insurance 0.97 – 1.25%
Well, to summarize, let’s say that from a German salary more or less you can withhold 40% of your gross salary, between taxes and social security contributions.
⚠️ Note!!: First of all. Do you have your Net salary (the amount), or do you want to calculate it? if that is the case, continue reading, if not go directly to the Gross salary Calculator and calculate it. Go to to the Calculator.
CALCULATE YOUR GROSS SALARY IN GERMANY
When looking for a job in Germany in the interviews, you will be asked for your ideal salary for the position you are applying for, therefore, it is convenient for you to do an investigation of the gross salary of that position in question, so that you do not go low or high in the interview.
Steps you should take BEFORE looking for a job in Germany:
- Step 1: Find out the salary of the position itself. Through the following websites you can find the salaries in each position, as well as that of each city in Germany.
- Option 1: go to www.gehalt.de (Salary consultation website) to looking for your net salary. (average)
- Option 2: go to https://www.kununu.com/ (Check comments from former employees) : Here you can see a comment from a former employee of an important multinational. Giving their score, as well as their positive and negative aspects, and figure out the Net salary of that particular position.
What do these websites do?
- Search for your position and find out the average salary in Germany.
- Job Openings
- Experience of former workers in different companies, providing a score of their experience in it, as well as positive or negative comments with total transparency
The portals to know the salaries of each position are intuitive, no one but you knows if you should increase those amounts, if for example you have enough experience in the sector, as well as if you master different tools or programs, that will always be an addition that plays in your favor.
Calculate your Net salary with this calculator
Step 2: Do you have your Gross salary? (if not go to the step before). Cool!!! we can start, to do so, You just have to put your gross salary, as well as what category you belong to (remember that you have more information above), as well as other questions (city where you are going to work, if you have children.. etc)
Websites to calculate your net salary in Germany
- Option 1: Gross-net-rechner
- Option 2: Bbx
⚠️ ATTENTION: these websites will only give you an approximation of what your net salary could be, it will never be the final salary.
Finally, if you are in the middle of a selection process, I highly recommend that you pay attention to having all the documents in order, since the first thing they will ask you in an interview is if you have all the papers in order, otherwise it may be a big problem, for this I invite you to read this article of what documents I need to work in Germany.
