German payroll 2026: the full cycle, from wage tax and social insurance to payslip, minimum wage and sick pay

Scope

For employers, payroll clerks and employees checking a German payslip for pay periods in 2026. This is the full-cycle payroll Guide: besides the rules shared with de-payroll, it covers the payslip, the minimum wage duties, tax-free night, Sunday and holiday surcharges, sick pay and the maternity top-up paid through payroll, and the accident insurance annual report. Covered: wage tax (Lohnsteuer) by tax class and ELStAM through the finance ministry's program flow (PAP), solidarity surcharge and church tax, the new exemption for employees past the standard retirement age; the four social insurance branches (RV, KV, PV, AV) with shares and ceilings; Minijobs and the transition band; the wage tax return, contribution and DEÜV deadlines, year-end and late surcharges; and a short section for 2025 pay still being corrected.

The year: the 2026 PAP covers pay periods "die nach dem 31. Dezember 2025, aber vor dem 1. Januar 2027 enden" and one-time payments received in 2026 (PAP 2026, Anlage 1). Social insurance values apply from 1 January 2026.

Not covered, see "When to refuse or refer": the self-employed (use de-freelance-intake), cross-border and treaty cases, managing directors whose insurance status is open, employer pensions (Versorgungsbezüge), benefits in kind and flat-rate taxes under § 37b and § 40 EStG, the miners' pension scheme, and the exact Midijob formulas. Also out of scope: annual leave entitlements, parental leave and Elterngeld, Krankengeld and Mutterschaftsgeld paid by the health fund, and the employee's own income tax return.

The employee owes the wage tax; the employer must withhold it at every wage payment (§ 38 EStG) and is liable for it (§ 42d(1) EStG). The employer pays the total social insurance contribution and recovers the employee's share only by deduction from pay (§ 28e SGB IV, § 28g SGB IV).

Ask the client first

• ELStAM: tax class, child counters, church, allowance or factor; first or further job?
• Health insurance: which fund and its own additional rate; or private, or voluntary member?
• Children and age: children under 25, proof given, employee 23 or older?
• State of the place of employment (church tax rate, Saxony rule).
• Regular monthly pay and any other jobs or Minijobs.
• Standard retirement age reached before this month?
• One-time payments in this run?
• Hours and surcharges: hours worked, hourly pay, and any night, Sunday or public holiday work?
• Absence: sick days (and since when, same illness before?) or a maternity protection period?
• Sector with the immediate-report duty (step 3)?
• Wage tax paid over for 2025 (sets the filing period).

Defaults when an answer is missing, for an estimate only: unknown class, estimate in class I, but real payroll uses class VI while the employee is at fault for missing data (§ 39c EStG); unknown church, none; unknown children, childless surcharge if 23 or older; unknown Saxony flag, outside Saxony; unknown insurance markers, insured in all branches; unknown additional rate, the average rate (never for a real payslip).

The method, step by step

Before the first payday

1. Employer number. Before the first registration, apply electronically to the Federal Employment Agency (its Betriebsnummern-Service) for a Betriebsnummer for each place of employment; separate numbers for different activities or municipalities (§ 18i SGB IV).
2. Status. Decide Minijob, short-term job, transition band, normal employment, or pay above the compulsory health insurance threshold. Add up several jobs as § 8(2) SGB IV and § 20(2) SGB IV say.
3. Immediate report in listed sectors. Construction, hospitality, passenger transport, haulage and logistics (including platform delivery), fairground work, building cleaning, trade-fair construction, meat industry (not the butchers' trade, "mit Ausnahme des Fleischerhandwerks"), prostitution, security, hairdressing and cosmetics: report the start day to the pension insurers' data office "spätestens bei dessen Aufnahme" (§ 28a(4) SGB IV). It does not replace the registration in step 6.
4. Wage tax data. Take the tax ID, date of birth, and whether this is the first or a further job; retrieve the ELStAM, enter them in the payroll account, and call up changes "monatlich" (§ 39e(5) EStG). Missing data by the employee's fault: class VI. A technical fault or a reason the employee is not responsible for: the expected class for at most three calendar months (§ 39c(1) EStG).
5. Payroll account. One Lohnkonto per employee and year at the place of business, recording pay (tax-free pay included) and tax withheld at every payment; keep it to the end of the sixth calendar year after the last entry (§ 41(1) EStG). For social insurance, keep pay records per employee and year in Germany and in German until the end of the calendar year after the last audit; an employer without a seat in Germany appoints an authorised person there (§ 28f(1), (1b) SGB IV).
6. Registration with the collecting office: the employee's health fund, or the Minijob-Zentrale for a Minijob (§ 28i SGB IV). Deadlines for this and every later report are in "Filing and payment".

Every pay period

7. Wage tax. Take out tax-free pay first (such as the Aktivrente). Run the 2026 PAP on the rest, then the surcharge and, for church members, church tax on the base BK. One-time payments use the annual method.
8. Contributions. Cap pay at each branch's monthly ceiling, apply the shares, deduct the employee's. A missed deduction can be made up only at the next three payments, later only if the employer was not at fault (§ 28g SGB IV).
9. Employer-only levies. U1 and U2 at the fund's rates, the insolvency levy, accident insurance.
10. Minimum wage and absences. Check pay per hour worked against the minimum wage, keep working-time records where § 17 MiLoG requires them, and pay sick pay, surcharges and the maternity top-up as set out in "Full cycle"; claim U1 or U2 refunds.
11. Payslip. Give the employee a pay statement in text form with the § 1 EBV contents ("Full cycle").
12. Contribution statement and payment to each collecting office, then the wage tax return and payment to the tax office, by the deadlines in "Filing and payment".

Changes and year-end

13. Change reports and the annual report (DEÜV), and the accident insurance annual report.
14. Wage tax certificate: close the payroll account, send it electronically, give the employee a copy.
15. Annual adjustment where compulsory and not barred (boundary table).

What breaks when the order is wrong: without wage tax data the tax runs in class VI and is corrected later; a missed employee share is lost after three payments; a late contribution statement lets the fund estimate the pay (§ 28f(3) SGB IV).

Figures for 2026: wage tax

All amounts are yearly unless the row says otherwise. The employer uses them through the PAP, which annualises the period's pay and divides the tax back.

What	2026 value	Source
Basic allowance: no tax on a taxable amount up to	EUR 12,348	§ 32a(1) EStG
First progressive zone	EUR 12,349 to EUR 17,799	Same
Second progressive zone	EUR 17,800 to EUR 69,878	Same
Third zone: factor 0.42 less a fixed amount	EUR 69,879 to EUR 277,825	Same
Top zone: factor 0.45 less a fixed amount	from EUR 277,826	Same
Employee lump sum (ANP), classes I to V	EUR 1,230	§ 9a EStG
Special expenses lump sum (SAP), classes I to V	EUR 36	§ 10c EStG
Single parent relief (EFA), class II, one child	EUR 4,260	§ 24b(2) EStG
Child allowances per counter, classes I to III (only for the surcharge and church tax base)	EUR 9,756	PAP 2026
Child allowances per counter, class IV	EUR 4,878	Same sentence
Classes V and VI: minimum tax as a share of the taxable amount	14%	§ 39b(2) sentence 7 EStG
Classes V and VI: at most this share above EUR 14,071; exactly this share above EUR 34,939	42%	Same
Classes V and VI: share above EUR 222,260	45%	Same
Solidarity surcharge on the wage tax	5.5%	§ 4 SolzG
Surcharge at most this share of the excess over the limit	11.9%	Same
Surcharge exemption limit, classes other than III	EUR 20,350	§ 3(3) SolzG
Surcharge exemption limit, class III	EUR 40,700	Same
Church tax on the church tax base, by state	8% or 9%	Finance ministry booklet
Vorsorgepauschale: the unemployment part counts only so far as it and the health and care parts together do not exceed	EUR 1,900	§ 39b(2) sentence 5 no. 3(e) EStG
Reduced health rate used for the Vorsorgepauschale (full rate)	14.0%	§ 243 SGB V
Tax-free pay past the standard retirement age (Aktivrente), per year	EUR 24,000	§ 3 no. 21 EStG
The same, per month in payroll	EUR 2,000	Finance ministry FAQ

Which states charge the lower church tax rate is state law and is not printed on an allowed federal page; the common reading is Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg at the lower rate and the other states at the higher one (check with the state's church tax law).

Wage tax: how the 2026 program works

Tax classes

Class	Who (§ 38b EStG)	What the PAP builds in
I	Single; married, widowed or divorced people who do not meet III or IV; people with limited tax liability	Basic tariff, ANP, SAP, Vorsorgepauschale
II	As I, when the single parent relief applies	As I plus EFA for one child
III	Married, both resident, not permanently separated, and the spouse is in V on joint application; also the widowed in the year after the death	Splitting: tax on half the amount, doubled
IV	Married, both resident, not permanently separated, the default for couples; on application with a factor (§ 39f EStG)	Basic tariff; with the factor the tax is multiplied by it
V	The spouse of a class III employee	Special method for V and VI, with ANP, SAP
VI	Second and further jobs; missing wage tax data by the employee's fault	Special method, no ANP, no SAP, no child allowance

Extra child amounts for single parents with more than one child, and other allowances, reach payroll only as an allowance in the ELStAM (§ 39a EStG).

The order of the calculation

1. Annualise. Monthly pay times 12; weekly pay times 360/7; daily pay times 360 (§ 39b(2) EStG).
2. Taxable amount. Deduct any pension allowance and old-age relief, deduct or add the ELStAM allowance or added amount, deduct the fixed amounts of the class (ANP, SAP, EFA), deduct the Vorsorgepauschale. Round down to whole euros.
3. Tariff. Classes I, II and IV: tariff below. Class III: tariff on half, doubled. Classes V and VI: special method.
4. Back to the period. Take 1/12, 7/360 or 1/360 of the yearly tax; drop parts of a cent.
5. Surcharge and church tax. Run the calculation again with the child allowances deducted. That second tax (JBMG) is the base for the surcharge and for church tax (BK). The wage tax itself does not fall because of children (§ 51a(2a) EStG).

PAP inputs that change the result most often (2026 PAP, section 3.1):

Input	Meaning
KRV	0 = in the statutory pension scheme (or a professional scheme); 1 = otherwise
ALV	New in 2026: 0 = in unemployment insurance; 1 = otherwise
PKV	0 = statutory health insurance; 1 = private only (the value 2 no longer exists)
KVZ	Full additional rate of the employee's own fund, two decimals; the PAP halves it
PVZ / PVA	PVZ = 1: childless surcharge; PVA = number of reductions (0 to 4) for children two to five
PVS	1 = place of employment in Saxony

Tariff formula 2026 (UPTAB26)

X = taxable amount, rounded down to whole euros (class III: half of it)
X up to 12348:            ST = 0
X up to 17799:            Y = (X - 12348) / 10000;  ST = (914.51 * Y + 1400) * Y
X up to 69878:            Z = (X - 17799) / 10000;  ST = (173.10 * Z + 2397) * Z + 1034.87
X up to 277825:           ST = 0.42 * X - 11135.63
above:                    ST = 0.45 * X - 19470.38
ST is rounded down to whole euros; class III: ST times 2

Classes V and VI (§ 39b(2) sentence 7 EStG; 2026 PAP, W1STKL5 = 14071, W2STKL5 = 34939, W3STKL5 = 222260). Never apply the plain tariff to V or VI.

UP5-6(Z):  ST = 2 * (tariff(floor(Z * 1.25)) - tariff(floor(Z * 0.75)))
           ST = the higher of ST and floor(Z * 0.14)
MST5-6(X): if X > W2STKL5:
               ST = UP5-6(W2STKL5)
               if X > W3STKL5: ST = ST + floor((W3STKL5 - W2STKL5) * 0.42) + floor((X - W3STKL5) * 0.45)
               else:           ST = ST + floor((X - W2STKL5) * 0.42)
           else:
               ST = UP5-6(X)
               if X > W1STKL5: ST = the lower of ST and UP5-6(W1STKL5) + floor((X - W1STKL5) * 0.42)

Vorsorgepauschale (insurance deduction inside the tax)

It stands for the employee's own contributions. The 2026 text has five parts (§ 39b(2) sentence 5 no. 3 EStG):

• Pension: pay up to the pension ceiling times the employee pension share, unless the employee is not in the statutory scheme (PAP marker KRV = 1).
• Health: pay up to the health ceiling times half the reduced health rate plus half the fund's own additional rate. The PAP writes it as "KVSATZAN = KVZ/2/100 + 0,07". It is not the rate the employee pays, which is built on the general rate.
• Care: pay up to the health ceiling times the employee care share from the social insurance table.
• Private insurance: instead of health and care, the monthly private premiums from the ELStAM less the tax-free employer subsidy (classes I to V only).
• Unemployment: pay up to the pension ceiling times the employee share, only if insured (ALV = 0) and not in class VI, and only so far as it and the health and care parts together do not pass the cap in the table. Once health and care alone exceed the cap, the unemployment part adds nothing; health and care still count in full.

There is no minimum Vorsorgepauschale in 2026. The PAP rounds the Vorsorgepauschale up to whole euros. The additional rate entered is the full rate of the employee's own fund: "Der durchschnittliche Zusatzbeitragssatz ist unmaßgeblich", except for the groups of § 242(3) SGB V, where the average rate counts (the 2026 PAP). Severance within § 24 no. 1 EStG is left out of the insurance parts.

Solidarity surcharge and church tax

• No surcharge while the yearly base does not exceed the exemption limit. Above it, the surcharge is the lower of the full rate on the base and the mitigation share of the excess, so it phases in (§ 4 SolzG).
• The period limit is the matching fraction of the yearly one: 1/12, 7/360 or 1/360 (§ 3(4) SolzG).
• One-time payments: surcharge only if the year's tax with the payment, worked out with child allowances, exceeds the limit; then the full rate, with no mitigation (§ 3(4a) SolzG, § 4 SolzG).
• Church tax only for members of a church that levies it (PAP input R above 0), at the state rate on BK. Caps and mixed-faith couples are state law.

One-time payments (sonstige Bezüge)

Bonuses, holiday and Christmas pay, back pay for earlier years and severance are taxed by the annual method of § 39b(3) EStG:

1. Yearly tax on the expected annual pay without the payment.
2. Yearly tax on that pay plus the payment.
3. Withhold the difference.

If the employee has not handed in the certificates of earlier employers this year, scale the current pay up for those months, mark the payroll account with the capital letter S, and the employee must then file a return (§ 46(2) no. 5a EStG). The one-fifth relief of § 34 EStG for severance is not applied in payroll since 2025; the 2026 PAP covers only "§ 39b Absatz 3 Satz 1 bis 8 EStG". The employee claims it, if due, in the income tax return (§ 34 EStG).

Tax-free pay past the standard retirement age (Aktivrente), new in 2026

• Who. Employees in a job under § 19(1) no. 1 EStG, from the month after they reach the standard retirement age of § 35 or § 235 SGB VI, where the employer owes pension contributions for that work (§ 3 no. 21 EStG). A pension need not be drawn. Minijobs, self-employment and civil service pay are not covered (finance ministry FAQ).
• How much. Up to the monthly amount in the table; the yearly amount falls by one twelfth for each month the conditions are not met. Unused room does not move to another month; one-time payments are exempt only within the month's room; severance as a rule is not covered. Pay for periods before the qualifying month is never covered, whenever it is paid. Pay already tax-free under another rule does not use it (§ 3 no. 21 sentence 2).
• Payroll. The employer must apply it and leave the exempt pay out of the wage tax. Class VI only with the employee's confirmation that no other job uses it, kept in the payroll account. When a job ends or the employer changes mid-month, the amount is apportioned by days on a 30-day month; a new job started mid-month gets the full amount if the employee confirms in writing that no Aktivrente was used that month. Contributions are unchanged. See Case 5.

Figures for 2026: social insurance

Rates

What	2026 value	Source
Pension insurance, full rate	18.6%	RVBeitrSBek 2026
Pension, employee share (employer the same, "je zur Hälfte", § 168(1) no. 1 SGB VI)	9.3%	PAP 2026
Unemployment insurance, full rate	2.6%	§ 341(2) SGB III
Unemployment, employee share (employer the same, § 346(1) SGB III)	1.3%	PAP 2026
Health insurance, general rate, without the fund's additional rate	14.6%	§ 241 SGB V
Health: the fund's own additional rate on top; employer and employee each bear half of general and additional rate	fund's own rate	§ 249(1) SGB V
Average additional rate for 2026 (planning value, and the rate that counts for the groups of § 242(3) SGB V)	2.9% (check)	Finance ministry monthly report
Care insurance, full rate	3.6%	§ 1 PBAV 2025
Care, employee share outside Saxony, with one child (and employer share outside Saxony)	1.8%	PAP 2026; § 58(1) SGB XI
Childless surcharge, employee only, from the month after turning 23	0.6 points	§ 55(3) SGB XI
Reduction per child from the second to the fifth, while under 25, employee share only	0.25 points	Same
Care, employee share in Saxony, with one child	2.3%	PAP 2026; § 58(3) SGB XI: employees bear "1 vom Hundert allein"

The official notice of the average additional rate is published in the Federal Gazette, which is not an allowed source for this Guide; the figure above is the finance ministry's reading of the estimate. Confirm it before using it for the § 242(3) groups.

Employee care share by children (derived from the rows above)

Children	Outside Saxony: employee	Outside Saxony: employer	Saxony: employee	Saxony: employer
None, employee 23 or older	2.4%	1.8%	2.9%	1.3%
One child (at any age); or childless and under 23	1.8%	1.8%	2.3%	1.3%
Two under 25	1.55%	1.8%	2.05%	1.3%
Three under 25	1.3%	1.8%	1.8%	1.3%
Four under 25	1.05%	1.8%	1.55%	1.3%
Five or more under 25	0.8%	1.8%	1.3%	1.3%
Source	§ 55(3) SGB XI, § 58 SGB XI, PAP 2026

• What counts. Children who have turned 25 do not count toward the reductions; the reduction for a child ends at the end of the month it turns 25. Parents, at any age of the child, do not pay the surcharge. The surcharge does not apply to people born before 1 January 1940, to people doing military or civilian service, or to recipients of basic income support (§ 55(3) SGB XI).
• Proof. Parenthood and the number of children under 25 must be proven to the employer unless already known. Proof through the automated procedure, or other proof given within six months of the birth, counts from the month of birth; later proof counts from the month after it is given (§ 55(3a) SGB XI).
• Saxony. The test is the place of employment, not where the employee lives (§ 58(3) SGB XI).
• Do not read the rate from § 55(1) SGB XI. The statute page still prints the older rate "3,4 Prozent"; the current rate was set by regulation (PBAV 2025).

Ceilings and thresholds

What	2026 per year	2026 per month	Source
Pension and unemployment ceiling (BBG RV/AV)	EUR 101,400	EUR 8,450	SVBezGrV 2026 § 4; AV uses the pension ceiling, § 341(4) SGB III
Health and care ceiling (BBG KV/PV), equal to the special threshold of § 6(7) SGB V	EUR 69,750	EUR 5,812.50	SVBezGrV 2026 § 2(2); § 55(2) SGB XI ties the care ceiling to it
General compulsory health insurance threshold (JAEG)	EUR 77,400	EUR 6,450	SVBezGrV 2026 § 2(1)
Special threshold, only for people privately insured on 31 December 2002 because of pay above the then threshold	EUR 69,750	EUR 5,812.50	SVBezGrV 2026 § 2(2)

• Ceilings cap contributions. Pay above a branch's ceiling carries no contribution in that branch. One value for the whole country.
• The threshold decides who may leave statutory health insurance. When pay rises above the JAEG, compulsory insurance ends only at the end of that calendar year, and only if pay also exceeds the threshold for the next year (§ 6(4) SGB V).
• 2027 change already enacted. From 2027 the health ceiling will be the special threshold plus EUR 3,600 (§ 223(4) SGB V: "entspricht der um 3 600 Euro erhöhten Jahresarbeitsentgeltgrenze nach § 6 Absatz 7 im Jahr 2027"). The 2027 amounts are set by regulation in late 2026 (check).

Contributions in practice

• Base. For each branch: pay for the period, capped at that branch's monthly ceiling. Apply the employee and employer shares from the tables. Round each amount to the cent.
• Several jobs. If pay from several insured jobs together passes a ceiling, each pay is first cut to the ceiling and then reduced in proportion so that together they reach the ceiling (§ 22(2) SGB IV). The second employer does not stop paying.
• One-time payments. They belong to the period in which they are paid and carry contributions only as far as pay so far in the year has not used up the pro-rata yearly ceiling. A payment from 1 January to 31 March that would pass that ceiling goes to the last period of the previous year, if the same employer employed the person then. For those compulsorily insured in health insurance the health ceiling is the test (§ 23a SGB IV).
• Employees past the standard retirement age. Drawing a full old-age pension after reaching that age makes the job pension-free, but the employer still pays its half (§ 172(1) SGB VI); unemployment insurance works the same way after that age (§ 346(3) SGB III). Where no employer pension contribution is due, the Aktivrente does not apply.

Employer-only levies

Levy	Rate	Base and rule
U1 (continued sick pay)	Set by each health fund	Only employers with, as a rule, not more than 30 employees, apprentices not counted; the statute refunds 80% of continued pay (§ 1(1) AAG)
U2 (maternity costs)	Set by each health fund	All employers, no size limit (§ 1(2) AAG)
Insolvency levy	0.15%	§ 360 SGB III; not for private households or public bodies (§ 358 SGB III)
Accident insurance	Billed by the Berufsgenossenschaft after the year	Total pay, hazard class and the insurer's own factor

U1, U2 and the insolvency levy are charged on the pay on which pension contributions are worked out (§ 7(2) AAG, § 358(2) SGB III).

Minijobs, short-term jobs and the transition band

What	2026 value	Source
Minimum wage per hour from 1 January 2026	EUR 13.90	MiLoV5
Minijob limit per month: minimum wage times 130, divided by 3 (EUR 602.33), rounded up to whole euros	EUR 603	§ 8(1a) SGB IV; the finance ministry names the band as "603,01 € - 2.000 €" (FAQ)
Minimum wage from 1 January 2027	EUR 14.60	MiLoV5
Employer's flat health contribution, commercial Minijob, if the Minijobber is in statutory health insurance	13%	§ 249b SGB V
Employer's flat pension contribution, commercial Minijob	15%	§ 172(3) SGB VI
Minijobber's own pension share (full rate less the employer's flat share)	3.6%	Derived: 18.6% less 15%
Private household Minijob: employer's flat health and pension contributions, each	5%	§ 249b SGB V and § 172(3a) SGB VI
Uniform flat tax where flat or Minijob pension contributions are paid (covers wage tax, surcharge and church tax)	2%	§ 40a(2) EStG
Flat tax on a Minijob without those contributions	20%	§ 40a(2a) EStG
Flat tax for short-term staff	25%	§ 40a(1) EStG
Short-term flat tax: work only occasional, not regularly recurring ("gelegentlich, nicht regelmäßig wiederkehrend"), not longer than 18 consecutive working days, and pay per working day on average not above	EUR 150	§ 40a(1) EStG (or the job is needed at once at an unforeseeable time)
No 25% (or farm 5%) flat tax if average pay per hour is above	EUR 19	§ 40a(4) no. 1 EStG; also barred where the same employer pays the person other wages taxed by the ELStAM (§ 40a(4) no. 2)
Upper limit of the transition band, regular pay per month (all jobs together)	EUR 2,000	§ 20(2) SGB IV
Factor F is this value divided by the total contribution rate	28%	§ 20(2a) SGB IV
Total contribution rate 2026: 18.6 + 3.6 + 2.6 + 14.6 + 2.9	42.3% (check)	Derived from the rates table; § 20(2a) defines the sum
Factor F 2026: 28 / 42.3	0.6619 (check)	Derived; the labour ministry publishes it in the Federal Gazette
Apprentices: employer bears the whole contribution if monthly pay is not above	EUR 325	§ 20(3) SGB IV

Minijob rules

• Regular pay. The limit is on regular monthly pay. An unforeseeable overrun in not more than two calendar months within a twelve-month period, each time by up to the limit itself, does not end the Minijob (§ 8(1b) SGB IV).
• Several jobs. Several Minijobs are added together. One Minijob beside a main insured job stays separate; every further Minijob is added to the main job (§ 8(2) SGB IV).
• Pension duty is the rule. A Minijobber is compulsorily insured in pension insurance and pays the own share unless they apply, in writing or electronically, to be released (§ 6(1b) SGB VI). If released, the employer still pays its flat share.
• Flat tax is an option. The employer may instead tax the pay by the ELStAM. The 2% flat tax is collected by Deutsche Rentenversicherung Knappschaft-Bahn-See, the Minijob-Zentrale (§ 40a(6) EStG); the 20% and 25% flat taxes are declared with the wage tax return.
• Short-term jobs. A job limited in advance to three months or 70 working days in a calendar year is contribution-free unless done as a profession with pay above the Minijob limit (§ 8(1) no. 2 SGB IV). The social insurance test and the 25% tax test are different tests.
• No Aktivrente on a Minijob.

Transition band (Midijob)

• Regular monthly pay above EUR 603 and not above EUR 2,000; with several jobs the total counts (§ 20(2) SGB IV).
• Normal wage tax by the ELStAM.
• Contributions are worked out on reduced bases by two formulas in § 20(2a) SGB IV: one for the total contribution, one for the employee's share, which is half of the contribution on the second base. The employer bears the rest (§ 249(3) SGB V, § 346(1a) SGB III). The statute page prints the formulas as images; take them from there or from payroll software, not from memory.
• Not for apprentices.

Full cycle: payslip, minimum wage, surcharges, sick and maternity pay

Payslip

• Duty. At every payment the employee gets a statement in text form showing at least the pay period and how pay is made up: kind and amount of surcharges, allowances, other pay, deductions, part payments and advances. None is needed if nothing has changed since the last proper one (§ 108(1), (2) GewO).
• Contents of the pay certificate for every pay period (§ 1 EBV, § 2 EBV): employer name and address; employee name, address, date of birth and pension insurance number; start date (and end date on the last one); pay period with tax days and social insurance days; tax class and factor, child allowances, church tax data, any allowance or added amount, tax ID; contribution group key and collecting office; care code (0 childless, 1 to 5 children counted, a code for proven parenthood); transition band or multiple jobs where so; every item of pay and deduction by name and amount, regular or one-off, and whether it counts for taxable pay, social insurance gross and total gross; taxable pay, social insurance gross, total gross and flat-taxed pay by legal basis; wage tax, church tax and surcharge, and the employee's contributions, split regular and one-off; net pay; employer subsidies to voluntary or private insurance; other deductions such as advances or garnishments; the amount paid out. The employee may black out the church tax data.

Minimum wage

What	2026	Source
Minimum wage per hour worked	EUR 13.90	MiLoV5
Paid at the agreed date, and at the latest	last bank working day (Frankfurt am Main) of the month after the work	§ 2(1) MiLoG
Hours on a written working-time account, per month at most	50% of contractual hours, balanced within twelve months	§ 2(2) MiLoG
Working-time records for Minijobs, short-term jobs and § 2a SchwarzArbG sectors	start, end and length by the seventh day after the work; keep at least two years	§ 17(1) MiLoG

Not covered by the minimum wage (§ 22 MiLoG): under-18s without completed vocational training; apprentices; volunteers; compulsory internships, and orientation or study-accompanying internships of up to three months; formerly long-term unemployed people in their first six months. Sector minimum wages can be higher.

Tax-free night, Sunday and holiday surcharges

Surcharge on basic pay, for work actually done, paid on top of basic pay	Tax-free up to	Source
Night work, 20:00 to 06:00	25%	§ 3b EStG
Night work 00:00 to 04:00, if the shift began before midnight	40%	§ 3b(3) EStG
Sunday work	50%	§ 3b(1) EStG
Public holidays, and 31 December from 14:00	125%	§ 3b(1) EStG
24 December from 14:00, 25 and 26 December, 1 May	150%	§ 3b(1) EStG
Hourly basic pay counted for the tax exemption, at most	EUR 50	§ 3b(2) EStG
Contribution-free only where the hourly pay the surcharge is based on is not above	EUR 25	§ 1(1) no. 1 SvEV

The two caps differ: a surcharge can be tax-free and still carry contributions. Public holidays are those at the place of work.

Sick pay and the maternity top-up

• Continued pay in sickness. Up to six weeks per incapacity, at the pay for regular working time without overtime pay, once the job has lasted four weeks without a break. The same illness again gives a new six weeks only after six months without incapacity from it, or twelve months after the first incapacity from it began (§ 3 EntgFG, § 4 EntgFG). Small employers in U1 get part of it back (80% under the statute).
• Maternity top-up. For the protection periods before and after the birth and the day of birth, the employer pays the difference between EUR 13 and the average net pay per calendar day of the last three settled months before the protection period (§ 20(1) MuSchG). With several employers, each pays its share. U2 refunds it in full (§ 1(2) AAG).

Boundaries and exceptions

Situation	Rule	Source
Monthly pay exactly EUR 603	Minijob ("nicht übersteigt"); from EUR 603.01 transition band	§ 8(1) no. 1 and § 20(2) SGB IV
Monthly pay exactly EUR 2,000	Still transition band ("nicht übersteigen")	§ 20(2) SGB IV
Wage tax for the previous year exactly EUR 1,080	Yearly return; above it quarterly	§ 41a(2) EStG
Wage tax for the previous year exactly EUR 5,000	Quarterly return; above it monthly	§ 41a(2) EStG
Business did not exist all last year	Convert last year's wage tax to a full year; a new business uses the first full month times 12	§ 41a(2) EStG
Surcharge base exactly at the limit	No surcharge ("übersteigt")	§ 3(3) SolzG
Employee turns 23 in the month	Surcharge from the month after	§ 55(3) SGB XI
Child turns 25 in the month	Reduction until the end of that month	§ 55(3) SGB XI
Standard retirement age reached in April	Aktivrente from May	§ 3 no. 21 EStG
Employer with exactly 30 employees	Still in U1 ("nicht mehr als 30")	§ 1(1) AAG
Employer with ten or more employees on 31 December	Annual adjustment compulsory, unless barred	§ 42b(1) EStG
Annual adjustment allowed and barred	Only for employees employed by this employer for the whole year. Barred (§ 42b(1) sentence 3 nos. 1 to 6): the employee applies against it; classes V or VI in the year; II, III or IV for only part of the year; an allowance or added amount; the factor method; in the year short-time pay, qualification pay, a maternity pay top-up, compensation under the Infection Protection Act, § 3 no. 21 pay, or § 3 no. 28 or 28a top-ups; at least one capital letter U; Vorsorgepauschale parts only for part of the year, or a change of the additional rate; different care insurance reductions in the year; foreign employment income without German wage tax	§ 42b(1) EStG
Late payment of wage tax by up to three days	No late-payment surcharge, except for payment in cash or by cheque (§ 224(2) no. 1 AO)	§ 240(3) AO
Deadline falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday	Moves to the next working day	§ 108(3) AO

Worked cases

Assumed inputs are labelled. Every other number comes from the tables above. Contributions are rounded to the cent.

Case 1: class I, EUR 5,000 a month, childless, outside Saxony

Item	Working	Amount
Assumed inputs	age 30, no church, no children, place of employment in Hesse, fund additional rate 2.9%, EUR 60,000 for the year, no one-time payments
Wage tax for the year	PAP 2026 test table, class I at EUR 60,000 (built with the same inputs); withhold one twelfth a month	EUR 9,389
Solidarity surcharge	Wage tax below EUR 20,350	none
Base, all branches	Below both monthly ceilings	EUR 5,000
Employee pension	9.3%	EUR 465.00
Employee unemployment	1.3%	EUR 65.00
Employee health	(14.6% + 2.9%) / 2 = 8.75%	EUR 437.50
Employee care	Childless, 2.4%	EUR 120.00
Employee total	Sum of the four	EUR 1,087.50
Employer	Pension EUR 465.00, unemployment EUR 65.00, health EUR 437.50, care 1.8% = EUR 90.00, insolvency levy 0.15%	EUR 7.50 levy, plus U1 and U2 at the fund's rates

Case 2: class III, EUR 9,000 a month, two children, Bavaria, church member

Item	Working (SVBezGrV 2026 ceilings)	Amount
Assumed inputs	spouse in class V, children aged 8 and 12, place of employment Munich, fund additional rate 2.5%. Pay is above the JAEG of EUR 6,450 a month, so the employee is assumed to be a voluntary member of a statutory fund; the employee owes the whole health contribution to the fund and the employer pays, as a subsidy, what it would bear under compulsory insurance (§ 257(1) SGB V); the net shares below are the same
Employee pension	Capped at EUR 8,450; 9.3%	EUR 785.85
Employee unemployment	EUR 8,450 at 1.3%	EUR 109.85
Employee health	Capped at EUR 5,812.50; (14.6% + 2.5%) / 2 = 8.55%	EUR 496.97
Employee care	EUR 5,812.50 at 1.55% (two children under 25)	EUR 90.09
Employer	Pension EUR 785.85, unemployment EUR 109.85, health EUR 496.97; care EUR 5,812.50 at 1.8%	EUR 104.63 care
Wage tax	Splitting through the PAP; the two counters (EUR 9,756 each) lower only the surcharge and church tax base; church tax at the Bavarian rate (8%, check) on BK. The test table does not fit: it assumes the childless surcharge	run the PAP

Case 3: commercial Minijob at the limit

Item	Working (§ 249b SGB V, § 172(3) SGB VI, § 40a(2) EStG)	Amount
Assumed inputs	EUR 603 a month, statutory health insurance, no release from pension insurance, 2% flat tax
Employer health	13% of EUR 603	EUR 78.39
Employer pension	15%	EUR 90.45
Employer flat tax	2%	EUR 12.06
Minijobber's pension share, deducted	3.6%	EUR 21.71
At EUR 603.01	Transition band: normal wage tax by the ELStAM, reduced contributions under § 20(2a) SGB IV	n/a

Case 4: second job in class VI, and the ministry's test table

Annual gross pay (PAP 2026, "Prüftabelle")	Class I (= IV)	Class II	Class III	Class V	Class VI
EUR 20,000	EUR 380	EUR 0	EUR 0	EUR 2,234	EUR 2,766
EUR 60,000	EUR 9,389	EUR 8,091	EUR 4,822	EUR 15,364	EUR 15,895
EUR 100,000	EUR 23,248	EUR 21,634	EUR 15,012	EUR 30,157	EUR 30,689

The table is built with ALV, KRV and PKV = 0, KVZ = 2,90 and the childless surcharge (class II without it). Software implementing the 2026 PAP must reproduce it, and should also pass these checks: the wage tax is the same with and without child counters, while the surcharge and BK never rise with them; the class V tax is never below 14% of the taxable amount and is above class I in every row; pay above both ceilings changes no contribution; a surcharge base just above the limit gives 11.9% of the excess, below 5.5% of the base, and nothing at or below the limit.

Second job (assumed: main job elsewhere, EUR 20,000 a year here): the table row gives the class VI tax against the class I tax at the same pay. Wages from two employers at once oblige the employee to file a return (§ 46(2) no. 2 EStG). If both jobs together pass a ceiling, both pays are reduced in proportion (§ 22(2) SGB IV).

Case 5: Aktivrente from May 2026

Item	Working (§ 3 no. 21 EStG, ministry FAQ)	Amount
Assumed inputs	standard retirement age reached in April 2026; works on at EUR 2,500 a month; the employer owes pension contributions for the job
January to April	Normal wage tax on EUR 2,500	taxed
May to December, tax-free per month	Up to EUR 2,000	EUR 2,000
May to December, taxed per month	EUR 2,500 less EUR 2,000	EUR 500
Yearly room	EUR 24,000 less four twelfths	EUR 16,000
FAQ variant: pay EUR 1,500, December bonus EUR 800	Tax-free part of the bonus: EUR 2,000 less EUR 1,500	EUR 500
FAQ variant: taxed part of the bonus	EUR 1,500 + EUR 800 less EUR 2,000	EUR 300
Contributions	Due in full; the exemption is for tax only	unchanged

Case 6: filing period, deadlines and late payment

Item	Working	Amount or date
Assumed inputs	wage tax paid over for 2025 was EUR 4,200; EUR 1,275 of third-quarter wage tax paid on 30 October 2026; EUR 3,480 of contributions paid late
Filing period 2026	More than EUR 1,080, not more than EUR 5,000 (§ 41a(2) EStG)	quarterly
Third-quarter deadline	10 October 2026 is a Saturday (§ 108(3) AO)	Monday 12 October 2026
Late-payment surcharge on wage tax	More than three days late, one month started; 1% of EUR 1,250 (§ 240 AO)	EUR 12.50
Late-payment surcharge on contributions, per month started	1% of EUR 3,450 (§ 24(1) SGB IV)	EUR 34.50

When to refuse or refer

• Self-employed and freelancers. Not payroll; use de-freelance-intake, and de-social-contributions for their own contributions.
• Students and working students, whose insurance rules differ, and apprentices paid up to the apprentice limit beyond the rule in the Minijob table.
• Part-month pay periods and part-month ceilings.
• Cross-border work, postings into or out of Germany, treaty relief (the ministry publishes a separate treaty routine), and foreign social security certificates.
• Managing directors and shareholder-directors of a GmbH or UG, and family members, until the insurance status has been decided (status procedure).
• Employer pensions (Versorgungsbezüge) and the old-age relief; company pension schemes.
• Benefits in kind, company cars, flat-rate wage tax under § 37b and § 40 EStG, tax-free allowances other than the Aktivrente and the § 3b surcharges.
• Short-time pay, Krankengeld, Mutterschaftsgeld and parental leave, beyond the employer's own sick pay, maternity top-up and reporting duties.
• Midijob amounts. This Guide gives the band and the factor, not the formulas.
• Miners' pension scheme, civil servants, and employees exempt from a branch.
• Exact church tax (state caps, mixed-faith couples).
• Private household Minijobs beyond the rates in the table (the household cheque procedure).
• Sign-off. Results are working papers. Payroll software that implements the PAP and a Steuerberater or payroll accountant (Lohnbuchhalter) should confirm them before use.

Filing and payment

Duty	Deadline	Source
Wage tax return and payment, monthly filer (previous year's wage tax above EUR 5,000)	10th of the next month	§ 41a EStG
Quarterly filer (above EUR 1,080 and not above EUR 5,000)	10 April, 10 July, 10 October, 10 January	§ 41a EStG
Yearly filer (not above EUR 1,080)	10 January of the next year	§ 41a EStG
Deadline on a weekend or public holiday	Next working day	§ 108(3) AO
Contribution statement	Two working days before the due date	§ 28f(3) SGB IV
Contributions	Third-last bank working day of the month worked; remainder the third-last bank working day of the next month	§ 23(1) SGB IV
Immediate report (listed sectors)	At the latest when work starts	§ 28a(4) SGB IV
Registration / de-registration	Next payroll run, at the latest six weeks after start or end	§ 6, § 8 DEÜV
Interruption report, only when pay stops for at least a full calendar month and the employee draws a listed benefit (for example sick pay from the fund), takes parental leave or does military service	Two weeks after the end of the first calendar month	§ 9 DEÜV
Change of health fund, contribution group or person group key	De-registration and new registration within six weeks	§ 12 DEÜV
Annual report for 2026	First payroll run of 2027, at the latest 15 February 2027	§ 10 DEÜV
Special annual report to accident insurance for everyone employed and insured in 2026	16 February 2027 ("zum 16. Februar des Folgejahres")	§ 28a(2a) SGB IV
Minimum wage paid	At the latest the last bank working day of the month after the work	§ 2 MiLoG
Wage tax certificate for 2026	Last day of February 2027; 28 February 2027 is a Sunday, so Monday 1 March 2027 under § 108(3) AO (check with the tax office)	§ 41b(1) EStG

Surcharges and liability

• Late payment of wage tax: 1% of the amount due, rounded down to a multiple of EUR 50, for each month started; not for a delay of up to three days (§ 240 AO).
• Late filing of the wage tax return: a late-filing surcharge is at the tax office's discretion; the compulsory amounts of § 152(5) AO do not apply to monthly, quarterly or yearly wage tax returns (§ 152(8) AO).
• Late contributions: 1% of the arrears, rounded down to EUR 50, for each month started; not charged separately on arrears under EUR 150 (§ 24(1) SGB IV).
• Liability: the employer is liable for wage tax it should have withheld and paid over (§ 42d(1) EStG).

2025 pay still being corrected

Pay for periods ending in 2025 is taxed with the amended 2025 PAP of 22 January 2025, which covers periods "die nach dem 31. Dezember 2024, aber vor dem 1. Januar 2026 enden" (amended PAP 2025). Do not use 2026 values for 2025 corrections.

2025 value	Amount	Source
Basic allowance	EUR 12,096	Amended PAP 2025
Surcharge exemption limit (not class III)	EUR 19,950	Same
Pension and unemployment ceiling, per year	EUR 96,600	Same
Health and care ceiling, per year	EUR 66,150	Same
Minimum wage 2025	EUR 12.82	MiLoV4
Minijob limit 2025: 12.82 x 130 / 3 = EUR 555.53, rounded up	EUR 556	§ 8(1a) SGB IV

The 2025 annual report was due by 15 February 2026 and the 2025 wage tax certificates by the last day of February 2026 (2 March 2026, as 28 February 2026 was a Saturday). A late or corrected certificate is still sent electronically. Employees with wages from two employers at once in 2025 must file a 2025 return (§ 46(2) no. 2 EStG).

Completion checklist

• Status of each job decided (Minijob, short-term, transition band, normal, above the JAEG); several jobs added up.
• Immediate report sent where the sector requires it; registration within six weeks.
• Pay per hour checked against the minimum wage; working-time records kept where required; § 3b surcharges within both caps.
• Sick pay and maternity top-up paid and U1/U2 refunds claimed; payslip with the EBV contents issued.
• Accident insurance annual report by 16 February; social insurance pay records kept in Germany.
• ELStAM retrieved and changes called up monthly; class VI only where the law requires it.
• Aktivrente applied for employees from the month after the standard retirement age (not on Minijobs; class VI only with the written confirmation).
• Wage tax run through software implementing the 2026 PAP; test-table rows reproduced.
• Surcharge and church tax on the base with child allowances; church rate by the place of employment's state.
• Each branch capped at its own 2026 ceiling; care share set by children under 25, age and Saxony; proof of children on file.
• Health share built on the fund's own additional rate, not the average.
• One-time payments by the annual method; the March rule for contributions checked.
• Contribution statement two working days before the due date; payment by the third-last bank working day.
• Wage tax return and payment by the tenth after each period; filing period set from 2025 wage tax.
• Year-end: annual report by 15 February, certificates by the end of February, annual adjustment where compulsory and not barred.
• Figures marked "check" confirmed: average additional rate, factor F, the lower church tax states.

Sources

• Income Tax Act (EStG) §§ 3, 9a, 10c, 24b, 32a, 38, 38b, 39a to 39f, 40a, 41 to 42d, 46, 51a: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/estg/
• Solidarity Surcharge Act §§ 3, 4: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/solzg_1995/
• Fiscal Code (AO) §§ 108, 152, 240: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/ao_1977/
• Social Code IV §§ 8, 20, 22, 23, 23a, 24, 28a, 28e to 28i; DEÜV §§ 6, 8, 9, 10, 12: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_4/ and https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/de_v/
• Social Code V §§ 6, 223, 241, 243, 249, 249b; VI §§ 6, 168, 172; XI §§ 55, 58; III §§ 341, 346, 358, 360; AAG §§ 1, 7: https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/
• Pension rate notice 2026 (RVBeitrSBek 2026), care rate regulation (PBAV 2025), minimum wage regulations (MiLoV4, MiLoV5): https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/rvbeitrsbek_2026/BJNR1230A0025.html and https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/pbav_2025/__1.html and https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/milov5/__1.html
• Social insurance values regulation 2026 (SVBezGrV 2026), Federal Law Gazette 2025 I No. 278: https://www.recht.bund.de/bgbl/1/2025/278/regelungstext.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=3
• Finance ministry, PAP 2026 overview: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/Downloads/Steuern/Steuerarten/Lohnsteuer/Programmablaufplan/2025-11-12-PAP-2026.html
• Finance ministry, Aktivrente FAQ: https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/DE/FAQ/FAQ-zur-Aktivrente.html

This Guide is general information for 2026 and not tax, legal or payroll advice.