Number format: this calculator uses German notation throughout — a comma is the decimal separator and a dot groups thousands. “1.234,56” means one thousand two hundred thirty-four euros and fifty-six cents. The figures come from German tax law, so they are shown the way German authorities write them.
Federal state of the workplace (Betriebsstätte)
In the wage tax deduction the church tax rate of the employer's location applies, not that of your home address.
In plain language
For church tax what counts is not where you live but where the business that pays you is based. Someone working in Bavaria and living in Hesse pays the Bavarian rate of 8 percent each month — even though 9 percent applies where they live. That is neither an error nor an advantage: in the tax return the tax office settles by place of residence and collects the difference, or refunds it.
In detail
In the wage tax deduction the church tax rate follows the state of the employer's wage tax establishment (§ 41 (2) EStG for the establishment; the link itself follows from the state church tax acts, for example § 11 SächsKiStG). The employer pays the church tax to the tax office of that establishment. The annual assessment, by contrast, follows the place of residence: it determines the church tax at the rate applying there and credits the amount withheld. Where the rates match, that is the end of it; where they differ, an additional payment or a refund arises. In Saxony the state of the establishment has a second effect: employees there bear half a percentage point more of the long-term care contribution (2,3 % instead of 1,8 %, the employer correspondingly less), because a public holiday was retained (§ 58 (3) SGB XI).
Worked example
4.000 € gross, tax class 1, liable to church tax: if the employer is based in Bavaria, 41,96 € of church tax is withheld (8 %); if in North Rhine-Westphalia, 47,20 € (9 %). Someone working in Bavaria but living in North Rhine-Westphalia pays roughly 63 € more per year at assessment — not because anything was miscalculated, but because residence decides in the end.
In brief
The annual assessment later settles by place of residence and evens out the difference.
Legal basis: e.g. § 11 SächsKiStG · as at 2026