German net pay by tax class: the 2026 table
At €4,000 gross per month, the gap between tax class III
(€2,928) and class VI (€2,141) is
€787 of monthly net in 2026. Every value comes
from the official BMF wage-tax algorithm;
download the CSV (CC BY 4.0).
Monthly net by tax class (2026)
| Gross | I | II | III | IV | V | VI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| €2,000 | €1,477 | €1,559 | €1,565 | €1,477 | €1,267 | €1,223 |
| €2,500 | €1,769 | €1,869 | €1,956 | €1,769 | €1,491 | €1,446 |
| €3,000 | €2,054 | €2,162 | €2,312 | €2,054 | €1,722 | €1,683 |
| €3,500 | €2,333 | €2,449 | €2,629 | €2,333 | €1,959 | €1,916 |
| €4,000 | €2,606 | €2,729 | €2,928 | €2,606 | €2,185 | €2,141 |
| €4,500 | €2,871 | €3,002 | €3,221 | €2,871 | €2,409 | €2,364 |
| €5,000 | €3,130 | €3,268 | €3,511 | €3,130 | €2,632 | €2,588 |
| €5,500 | €3,383 | €3,528 | €3,797 | €3,383 | €2,856 | €2,811 |
| €6,000 | €3,642 | €3,794 | €4,095 | €3,642 | €3,092 | €3,047 |
| €6,500 | €3,915 | €4,073 | €4,415 | €3,915 | €3,334 | €3,284 |
| €7,000 | €4,180 | €4,344 | €4,730 | €4,180 | €3,568 | €3,518 |
| €7,500 | €4,437 | €4,606 | €5,042 | €4,437 | €3,802 | €3,752 |
| €8,000 | €4,680 | €4,863 | €5,349 | €4,680 | €4,036 | €3,986 |
Assumptions
Statutory health insurance with the 2.9% average supplement, no church tax, North Rhine-Westphalia, tax year 2026. Class II assumes one child (so no childless care surcharge); all other classes assume childless from age 23. Classes I and IV are identical for childless employees. Run your own case, including church tax, in the Germany salary calculator, and compare couple combinations in the tax class calculator.
Use the data
The CSV is licensed CC BY 4.0: cite "Salneto, 2026" with a link. It is computed by the same tested engine as our calculators, verified cent-exact against the Finance Ministry's official interface; see the methodology page.