DE · Europe · EUR

Germany

Tax rates

0102030405060World avg (corporate) 22.6%Crypto · Wealth Tax — 0%VAT 19%Capital Gains 25%Corporate 30.1%Income 47.5%

Estimate your income tax

Enter a gross annual salary to estimate 2025 national income tax for Germany using verified brackets — total tax, effective and marginal rate, net income, and the per-band breakdown. National income tax only; social contributions and sub-national taxes are excluded unless the notes say otherwise. The full calculator covers every country with verified rates.

The calculator needs JavaScript — every figure stays readable without it. The full bracket schedule is under Brackets & notes below, and the calculator page lists every country's schedule.

Brackets, notes & in practice

Income Tax

Thresholds in EUR
ThresholdRate
EUR 00%
EUR 12,09614%
EUR 17,44324%
EUR 68,48042%
EUR 277,82545%
Source: OECD Tax Database — Top statutory personal income tax rates · as of 2025-01-01

Linear approximation of the progressive formula tariff (§32a EStG, Veranlagungszeitraum 2025, Grundtabelle/single assessment) — exact tax varies within zones. The marginal rate rises continuously (not in flat steps) from 14% at the Grundfreibetrag (€12,096) to 42% at €68,480; the 24% point at €17,443 marks the boundary between the two progressive sub-zones and is that second zone's entry marginal rate, not a flat band. €68,480–€277,825 and above €277,825 are genuinely flat 42% and 45% zones. Excludes Solidaritätszuschlag and Kirchensteuer. Stored headline rate (47.475%) = 45% top bracket × 1.055 solidarity surcharge, which still applies in full at this income level despite the 2021 exemption for most taxpayers.

VAT

In practice

Filing

Germany's Kleinunternehmerregelung (§19 UStG) exempts a business from charging VAT where turnover did not exceed EUR 25,000 in the prior calendar year and does not exceed EUR 100,000 in the current calendar year, thresholds in force since 1 January 2025; qualifying small businesses generally need not file periodic VAT advance returns or an annual VAT return, and if the current-year threshold is crossed mid-year, the transaction that exceeds it and everything after becomes subject to regular VAT.

Source: Finanzamt Hessen (Landesfinanzverwaltung) — Kleinunternehmer: Neuregelung ab 2025 · as of 2026-07-27
Exemptions

Germany's VAT law (§4 UStG) exempts categories including exports and intra-EU supplies, financial and insurance services such as credit provision and securities trading, healthcare and medical treatment, education, and real estate rental.

Source: Gesetze im Internet (Bundesministerium der Justiz) — Umsatzsteuergesetz, §4 · as of 2026-07-27

Capital Gains Tax

Germany taxes capital gains on listed shares held by individuals at a flat 25% rate, applied regardless of holding period. A 5.5% solidarity surcharge applies on top of this tax, plus church tax where applicable. An annual EUR 1,000 investor's allowance shields a portion of combined interest, dividend, and capital gains income from tax.

In practice

Exemptions

Germany shields capital gains, dividends, and interest from tax collectively through a EUR 1,000 annual investor's allowance per taxpayer, doubled to EUR 2,000 for married couples filing jointly and provided only once across all three income types combined. Special partial tax exemptions also apply to gains from the disposal of mutual fund units, varying by the fund's type.

Source: PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries — Germany, Individual - Income determination · as of 2026-06-30

Crypto Tax

Germany taxes gains from disposing of privately-held cryptocurrency as a private disposal transaction (privates Veräußerungsgeschäft) under Section 23 of the Income Tax Act, but only when the crypto is sold within one year of acquisition; crypto held for more than one year before disposal is exempt from tax entirely. Gains within the one-year window are added to other income and taxed at the individual's ordinary progressive income tax rate. Total gains from all private disposal transactions in a calendar year remain tax-free if they total less than €1,000 (€600 before the 2024 tax year).

In practice

Exemptions

Germany treats gains from disposing of privately-held crypto as taxable only when the crypto is sold within one year of acquisition; crypto held longer than a year is fully exempt from tax on disposal. Even within that one-year window, the total gain from all private disposal transactions in a calendar year is tax-free if it is less than EUR 1,000 (EUR 600 before the 2024 tax year).

Source: Bundesministerium der Finanzen — Einzelfragen zur ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung von Kryptowerten (BMF-Schreiben vom 6. März 2025) · as of 2025-03-06

Wealth Tax

No net wealth tax levied. Germany's Vermögensteuergesetz remains on the books but its collection has been suspended since 1997, following a 1995 Federal Constitutional Court ruling that the law's unequal valuation of real estate versus financial assets was unconstitutional; no replacement valuation basis has been enacted, so the tax is not currently assessed despite periodic political proposals to revive it.