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.
Second job (Nebentätigkeit)
A second job is taxed in tax class 6 — the wage tax withheld there is only a prepayment.
In plain language
A second job is treated harshly in the wage tax deduction: it runs in tax class 6, with no allowances at all, because those are already used up by the first job. But what is deducted there is only a prepayment. At the end of the year the tax office adds both jobs together and recalculates — often something comes back. A “net figure from the side job” on its own is therefore not an honest number.
In detail
A second employment relationship is settled in tax class 6 under § 38b (1) sentence 2 no. 6 EStG: without the basic allowance, without the employee standard deduction, without the full pension expense allowance. The deduction is therefore high — but it is a prepayment on the annual tax, not a final burden. Anyone drawing wages from more than one employment must file an income tax return (§ 46 (2) no. 2 EStG); there all income is brought together and the wage tax withheld is credited. The flat-taxed minijob is different: under § 40a (2) EStG in conjunction with § 40 (3) sentences 3 and 4 EStG it stays out of the assessment — the employer bears the levies and the wage arrives gross for net.
Worked example
A minijob at 550 € a month, with the opt-out from compulsory pension insurance, covered by statutory health insurance: 6.600,00 € arrives over the year, undiminished. The employer pays a further 1.980,00 € — 990,00 € flat pension contribution, 858,00 € health contribution and 132,00 € of uniform flat-rate tax; the U1 and U2 levies and the insolvency levy come on top. This wage does not appear in the tax return.
In brief
Only the annual calculation shows the actual outcome. A bare “net from the second job” figure would be wrong once assessed.
Legal basis: § 38b EStG, § 46 Abs. 2 Nr. 2 EStG · as at 2026