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.
Solidarity surcharge (Solidaritätszuschlag)
A 5,5 % surcharge on income or wage tax; since 2021 only high incomes pay it.
In plain language
The “Soli” is a surcharge on your tax, not on your salary. As long as your annual tax stays below an exemption limit you pay nothing at all — which is true for the great majority. Only once income tax for the year exceeds 20.350 € (40.700 € for jointly assessed couples) does the surcharge set in, and it phases in: it does not jump straight to the full rate. On investment income, by contrast, it is always charged, with no exemption limit.
In detail
The base is the assessed income tax or the wage tax (§ 3 (1) SolZG). For people with children it is computed after deducting the child allowances (§ 3 (2) SolZG) — even where child benefit was the more favourable option for income tax itself. The surcharge is levied only if the base exceeds the exemption limit: in 2026 that is 20.350 € on the basic scale and 40.700 € on the splitting scale (§ 3 (3)). Above it, the phase-in zone caps the surcharge at 11,9 % of the amount by which the base exceeds the limit (§ 4 sentence 2), until the full rate of 5,5 % is reached. Wage tax withholding applies the same rule month by month.
Worked example
Tax class I, no children: up to 7.600 € gross a month there is no surcharge; it begins at around 7.700 €. At 9.000 € it is 61,51 € a month on 2.212,75 € of wage tax — only 2,8 % rather than 5,5 %, because the phase-in zone still applies. At 12.000 € it is 191,00 € on 3.472,75 € of wage tax: exactly 5,5 %.
In brief
Nil below the exemption limit; above it 11,9 % of the excess tax, until 5,5 % of the whole tax is reached.
Legal basis: § 3 (3), § 4 SolZG 1995 · as at 2026