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.
Church tax rate (Kirchensteuersatz)
Pre-filled with the rate of the state selected — eight percent in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, nine elsewhere.
There is a full article on this term: Church tax explained
In plain language
German church tax is a surcharge on your income or wage tax — not on your salary. In Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg it is 8 percent, in all other federal states 9 percent. Because it sits on top of the tax rather than the wage, the euro amount is far smaller than the percentage suggests. And what counts is the state your employer is based in, not the one you live in.
In detail
Church tax is a surcharge tax on income or wage tax. Its level is set by the church tax acts of the federal states; the rate is 8 % in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg and 9 % in the other fourteen states. The base is not the wage tax itself but the wage tax reduced by the child allowances under § 51a (2) EStG — which is why every child allowance also lowers the church tax. The calculator pre-fills the rate from the chosen state but lets you overwrite it: there are areas with divergent rates, such as Bad Wimpfen with 9 % inside an 8 % state. The capping of church tax at higher incomes, which several states operate, is deliberately not calculated — it cannot be substantiated without further detail.
Worked example
4.000 € gross, tax class 1, liable to church tax: the wage tax is 524,50 €. That produces 47,20 € of church tax in North Rhine-Westphalia (9 %) and 41,96 € in Bavaria (8 %). The difference between a 9 % and an 8 % state is therefore 5,24 € a month here — about 63 € a year.
In brief
Can be overridden for special cases, such as Bad Wimpfen with nine instead of eight percent.
Legal basis: state church tax acts · as at 2026