What this gross-to-net calculator does
Enter your gross salary, choose Germany or Austria, and this tool estimates your net take-home pay after income tax and social-insurance contributions. It shows a full breakdown of every deduction, both per month and per year, so you can see exactly where your money goes. The calculation runs locally in your browser.
How net pay is worked out
Your gross salary is reduced by two kinds of charges:
- Social-insurance contributions — in Germany these are pension, unemployment, health and long-term care insurance; in Austria they are combined into a single social-security contribution. Each is capped at an annual ceiling, so very high earners pay the same fixed maximum.
- Income tax — calculated on your taxable income after the contributions and basic allowances are deducted. Germany adds a solidarity surcharge (only above a threshold) and, if applicable, church tax.
What remains is your net salary.
Germany: tax classes and surcharges
Germany uses tax classes (Steuerklassen) that change how much wage tax is withheld:
- Class I — single employees.
- Class II — single parents (adds a relief amount).
- Class III / V — for married couples with different incomes (one gets the lower withholding, the other the higher).
- Class IV — married couples with similar incomes.
- Class VI — for a second job.
The long-term care surcharge applies to employees aged 23 or older without children, while having several children slightly reduces the care contribution.
Austria: a note on the 13th and 14th salary
Austrian employees usually receive 14 payments a year, and the 13th and 14th ("Sonderzahlungen") are taxed at a much lower rate. To keep the result clear, this calculator works on a straight twelve-month basis and does not apply that special low rate. In practice your real annual net in Austria is therefore typically a little higher than twelve times the monthly figure shown here.
Why your payslip may differ
This is an estimate. Real payroll can include additional factors:
- Personal allowances and tax-free amounts you have registered.
- Federal-state specifics (for example church-tax rates or the Saxony care split).
- Benefits in kind, company pensions or salary sacrifice arrangements.
- The special treatment of tax classes V and VI, which is simplified here.
The figures are for orientation only and come without guarantee. This is not tax advice — check your official payslip or ask a tax adviser for binding numbers.