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.
Profit (cash-basis accounts)
Receipts minus business expenses — the figure on which tax and contributions are calculated.
In plain language
Profit is not what lands in your account. It is what remains once you deduct all business expenses from all receipts — rent, equipment, insurance, software, travel. Only that amount is what the tax office and the health insurer calculate on. Important: the profit is not yet your money. Income tax, the solidarity surcharge and social security contributions all come out of it.
In detail
The cash-basis statement of receipts and expenses under § 4 (3) EStG is open to smaller businesses that are not required to keep double-entry books. It follows the cash principle: a receipt counts in the year the money comes in and an expense in the year it goes out — regardless of when the work was done or the invoice written. Anyone required to keep books determines the profit instead by comparing business assets (§ 4 (1) EStG). VAT is not part of the profit: it is a pass-through item.
Worked example
80.000 € in fees, 18.000 € of business expenses → a profit of 62.000 €. Income tax and — for those voluntarily in the statutory scheme — the health and long-term care contributions are calculated on those 62.000 €.
In brief
Business receipts for the year minus business expenses for the year; what counts is when payment is made, not when the invoice is issued.
Legal basis: § 4 Abs. 3 EStG · as at 2026