Payslip
die Lohnabrechnung
The Lohnabrechnung is the official payslip that shows how your pay is calculated: brutto, netto, Steuerklasse.
The number in your contract is not the number that lands in your account — tax and insurance sit in between. In Germany pay is always quoted gross. Here: the three blocks of a payslip, which deduction lines are tax and which are insurance, and the Steuerklasse box that can change your take-home pay by hundreds of euros a month.
Right now: two numbers and a big gap
Everything on a payslip is a compound word. If you know how to read them in pieces you will never need a dictionary — the compound words page is the key to this one.
Shortcutbrutto = before deductions, netto = what you actually get. The difference goes into two groups: tax (Steuer) and insurance (Versicherung). Every line you see is one of the two.
The figure in a German employment contract is always gross. If the ad says “2.800 € brutto”, 2,800 will not arrive in your account. Job ads in the US and UK quote gross too, but the German gap is a big one: roughly 25–40%.
- brutto before deductions WHAT THE CONTRACT AND THE AD SAY
- netto what reaches your account THE NUMBER YOU ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT
- Abzüge deductions SPLIT IN TWO: TAX + INSURANCE
In a job interview, ask whether the figure is brutto or netto. The default in Germany is gross, but asking is not rude: Ist das brutto oder netto?
The skeleton of a payslip: three blocks
A payslip looks complicated but it is made of three blocks. When you pick up the page, find these three first and read the lines afterwards.
| Block | German | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 · Earnings | Bezüge · Bruttobezüge | gross salary, overtime, bonuses, extra payments |
| 2 · Deductions | Abzüge | taxes + social insurance contributions — the longest block |
| 3 · Result | Auszahlungsbetrag · Netto | the amount that will be paid into your account |
The number in block three appears as Auszahlungsbetrag or Überweisungsbetrag. If that is all you are after, look at the very bottom of the page.
The words on a payslip look long because they are all compounds. Read them from the end to the beginning and they make sense:
| Word | Pieces | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| der Bruttolohn | brutto + Lohn | gross pay |
| die Lohnsteuer | Lohn + Steuer | income tax taken from your wages |
| der Arbeitnehmeranteil | Arbeitnehmer + Anteil | the employee’s share |
| der Arbeitgeberanteil | Arbeitgeber + Anteil | the employer’s share |
| der Auszahlungsbetrag | Auszahlung + Betrag | payout amount |
Don’t mix them up: Arbeitnehmer is literally the one who takes work, the employee. Arbeitgeber is the one who gives work, the employer. English says employ-ee and employ-er; German spells the idea out in plain words.
The deduction lines — who gets the money
Deductions fall into two groups. First come the taxes that go to the state, then the insurance contributions that go to social security. On the payslip they usually sit under separate headings.
| Line | In English | Who gets it |
|---|---|---|
| die Lohnsteuer | income tax | the state — the biggest deduction |
| der Solidaritätszuschlag | solidarity surcharge | the state — on most salaries it is no longer charged |
| die Kirchensteuer | church tax | only if you are registered with a church |
| die Rentenversicherung | pension insurance | the pension fund |
| die Krankenversicherung | health insurance | your health insurer |
| die Pflegeversicherung | long-term care insurance | the care fund for old age and illness |
| die Arbeitslosenversicherung | unemployment insurance | the unemployment fund |
The last four all contain -versicherung: they are insurance, not tax. You get something back — a pension, a doctor, unemployment benefit. The first three are taxes and go straight to the state.
Church tax starts automatically
When you register your address (Anmeldung) the form asks for your religion. If you name a church there, Kirchensteuer is taken from your pay automatically — nobody asks you again.
Religionszugehörigkeit: keine
Religion: none — no church tax is deducted.
You can leave the field empty or write keine. Being Muslim does not trigger this tax; Kirchensteuer is only charged to people registered with a religious body that is officially recognised in Germany.
Steuerklasse: one small box, hundreds of euros
German tax is split into six classes, and which one you are in directly changes what you take home. With the same gross salary, a different class can mean a difference of several hundred euros a month.
| Class | Who | Note |
|---|---|---|
| I | single, divorced, widowed | the most common |
| II | single parent living alone with a child | extra allowance |
| III | married — the higher earner | lowest deduction |
| IV | married — both earn about the same | the default |
| V | married — the lower earner | highest deduction |
| VI | second job | highest rate |
For married couples the key question is: III + V or IV + IV? The total tax paid ends up the same at year-end, but what you take home during the month is different. It is a choice and it can be changed.
On the payslip your class is shown as StKl or Steuerklasse, usually in the top right corner. Take a look — most people don’t know their own class.
Being in class V without noticing
When you get married, the couple moves to IV + IV automatically. If one partner earns clearly less, III + V leaves more money in the month — but nobody tells you; you have to file a request.
The reverse is true too: the partner in class V looks at the payslip and panics — “why is so much taken from me?” The deduction is high because the couple’s allowance has been loaded onto the other partner. The account is settled at year-end with the Steuererklärung.
Ich möchte die Steuerklasse wechseln.
I’d like to change my tax class.
Welche Steuerklasse habe ich?
Which tax class am I in?
The part nobody tells you: a payslip is an application document
Textbooks treat the payslip as a “pay slip”, nothing more. In Germany it has a second and more important job: it is your proof of income. It is the paper people ask for when you rent a flat, take out a loan or buy a phone on instalments.
- Flat application — the landlord almost always asks for die letzten drei Gehaltsabrechnungen (your last three payslips). The flat-hunting page.
- Loans and instalments — the bank looks at the payslip as proof of income.
- Visa and residence permit — asked for as proof that you can support yourself.
- Tax refund — at year-end the Lohnsteuerbescheinigung (annual summary) is built from your payslips.
Practical result: don’t throw payslips away. Put the page that arrives every month into a folder. “Do you have last year’s payslips?” comes up in Germany far more often than you would think.
The second thing nobody says: overpaid tax can be claimed back. Even if the Steuererklärung (tax return) is not compulsory for you, it is worth filing — most employees get back anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand euros a year. But this is a language page, not financial advice: the figure depends on your situation, and a Lohnsteuerhilfeverein or a tax adviser can give you the exact answer.
What you just learned
In German, a payslip is called Lohnab_____.
Show the answer
rechnung. der Lohn (pay) and die Abrechnung (statement) combine into Lohnabrechnung, the word for payslip.
Which of these is an insurance contribution, NOT a tax?
Show the answer
die Pflegeversicherung. Every line ending in -versicherung is insurance, and you get a service in return. Steuer and Zuschlag are taxes that go straight to the state.
When is church tax deducted?
Show the answer
When you are registered with an officially recognised religious body. — If you are registered. If you name a church in the religion field of the Anmeldung form, the deduction starts automatically. If the field is empty or says keine, nothing is taken.
What to do this week
This topic sticks when you read your own payslip, not when you do exercises. Five minutes:
- Get out your latest payslip. Mark the three blocks: Bezüge · Abzüge · Auszahlungsbetrag.
- Find gross and net and work out the difference. What percentage is it?
- Sort the deduction lines into two piles: which are Steuer, which are -versicherung?
- Find the Steuerklasse line. Which class are you in — did you know?
- Take a line you don’t understand and break it up from the end: Sozialversicherungsbeitrag → Beitrag (contribution) ← Versicherung (insurance) ← Sozial (social).
Next up is health insurance: what you get in return for the contribution taken from your payslip.
Build the sentence yourself
Tap the words and put them in order. This is the hardest part of German — and there are no options to pick from, you build it.
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tap the words
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tap the words
Know this before the test
The core of the topic in three lines, then the mistakes people make most often.
- The figure in the ad is gross
The amount in a job ad is almost always brutto. The netto that reaches your account is clearly lower — tax and contributions are taken off.
2.800 € brutto
- Tax and contributions are different things
Lohnsteuer · Solidaritätszuschlag · Kirchensteuer are taxes. Renten- · Kranken- · Pflege- · Arbeitslosenversicherung are insurance contributions, and they give you a claim in return.
die Pflegeversicherung
- Your tax class sets the deduction
In a married couple that picks the III/V combination, the lower-earning partner in Steuerklasse V sees the heaviest deduction. The total tax is evened out at year-end through the tax return.
Steuerklasse III / V
- The Steuer-ID stays the same for life
die Steueridentifikationsnummer is issued once and never changes. When you start a job your employer asks for it, plus your insurance number.
Ihre Steuer-ID bitte
2,800 € brutto — 2,800 € will reach my account.
2,800 € brutto — less than that will reach my account.
brutto means before deductions. The net amount drops noticeably, depending on your tax class.
Church tax is taken from everyone.
Church tax is only taken from registered members.
It is deducted if your registration shows you as a member of an officially recognised religious body; it stops once you leave.
The Pflegeversicherung is a tax.
The Pflegeversicherung is an insurance contribution.
Contributions give you a claim in return; taxes don’t. On the payslip the two groups sit under separate headings.
A Steuererklärung is compulsory for every employee.
For most salaried employees it is voluntary.
The cases where it is compulsory are limited; most people who file voluntarily get money back.
Test yourself
Tap an answer — we will look at why together.
The job ad says “2.800 € brutto”. What will reach your account?
Who is the Arbeitnehmer?
die Arbeit = work
Which of these is an insurance contribution, NOT a tax?
When is church tax deducted?
In a married couple, which class does the lower-earning partner see the highest deduction in?
Which document does a landlord ask for in an application?
Practice done — –
To finish the topic, take the full test: score 60% and it is marked as done on your level path.
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Payslip worksheet
This whole page — tables, traps, examples — as one PDF. Download it, print it, run through it before the exam.
Related topics
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Handschuh · Krankenhaus · Arbeitszimmer
German compound nouns are nouns built from two or more words stuck together: Handschuh, Krankenhaus, Arbeitszimmer.
Anmeldung
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The Anmeldung is the official address registration you must complete after moving in Germany: you go to the Bürgeramt with a Wohnungsgeberbestätigung.
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listing · Besichtigung · Selbstauskunft
Apartment hunting in Germany means reading listings, viewing flats and applying: Wohnungssuche, Besichtigung, Selbstauskunft.