Germany employer cost calculator 2026

What the tool computes

It splits pension, health, long-term care and unemployment contributions into employee and employer shares, applies the relevant ceilings, and takes account of the Bundesland of the workplace (for church tax and Saxony's separate care-insurance rule). Wage tax and the solidarity surcharge follow the BMF's official 2026 payroll program, not a flat percentage. Employer cost covers the gross, the employer's shares and the levies the employer bears alone — not the employee's wage tax.

What the tool does not compute

• A Minijob up to EUR 603 a month is refused: it is a different contribution system, not a special case of the one modelled.
• The transition zone above EUR 603 and up to and including EUR 2,000 is refused — contributory pay and the employer share are set there by their own formula.
• It does not model short-term employment, apprentices, private health insurance, civil servants, concurrent employment, working pensioners, miners' insurance, professional pension schemes, short-time work, one-off payments, cross-border employment, working students, internships, construction, voluntary service or benefits in kind.
• The accident-insurance rate is not computed — the employer supplies it as a monthly accrual, because the relevant Berufsgenossenschaft sets it.

Sources

1. Programmablaufplan für die maschinelle Lohnsteuerberechnung 2026 — Bundesministerium der Finanzen
   accessed 24 August 2026
2. Sozialversicherungsrechengrößen-Verordnung 2026 — Bundesministerium der Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de
   accessed 24 August 2026
3. § 241 SGB V — Allgemeiner Beitragssatz — Bundesministerium der Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de
   accessed 24 August 2026
4. § 55 SGB XI — Beitragssatz Pflegeversicherung — Bundesministerium der Justiz — gesetze-im-internet.de
   accessed 24 August 2026