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.
Trade tax multiplier (Gewerbesteuer-Hebesatz)
The percentage by which your municipality multiplies the tax base amount.
In plain language
German trade tax is not set by the federal government but by your municipality — through the multiplier. Between a cheap and an expensive municipality there can be several thousand euros a year. For sole traders that is usually not a disaster: the trade tax paid is credited against income tax up to a limit. Only above that limit does it become a genuine extra burden.
In detail
The multiplier is set by each municipality itself under § 16 GewStG; there is no nationwide figure, which is why it has to be entered here. The trade tax is the tax base amount × the multiplier, where the base amount is 3,5 % of the trade income reduced by the 24.500 € allowance and rounded down to a full 100 € (§ 11 GewStG). For natural persons it is credited against income tax at four times the base amount under § 35 (1) sentence 1 no. 1 EStG — but at most with the trade tax actually paid (§ 35 (1) sentence 5 EStG). Hence the familiar threshold: up to a multiplier of 400 % the tax and the credit almost cancel out; above it a residual burden remains.
Worked example
60.000 € of profit, commercial: after the 24.500 € allowance 35.500 € remains; the tax base amount is 1.242,50 €. At a multiplier of 350 % the trade tax is 4.348,75 € and the same amount is creditable. At 400 % it is 4.970,00 €, also fully creditable. At 490 % the tax rises to 6.088,25 € but only 4.970,00 € remains creditable — 1.118,25 € sticks for good.
In brief
It appears in no federal statute but is set by each municipality itself — which is why it has to be entered.
Legal basis: § 16 GewStG · as at 2026