🇩🇪 Germany
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🇩🇪 Self-Employment Cost Calculator, Germany
Freiberufler and Gewerbe · 2026 rates
Your situation
Writers, designers, developers, consultants, doctors and similar. No trade tax and no Chamber of Commerce membership.
Private cover is a fixed premium rather than a percentage, which favours higher earners and can be hard to leave later.
Most freelancers are outside the statutory pension system, so this is a choice rather than a deduction. Some professions are compulsorily insured.
Below the turnover limits you can stay outside VAT, at the cost of not reclaiming input VAT.
What you keep
€18,346 a year, after €5,654 in contributions and tax.
Social contributions
Charged on a minimum assessment base even in a bad year, and capped at the contribution ceiling. Usually the single largest cost of going freelance in Germany.
Income tax
Quarterly income-tax prepayments (Vorauszahlungen) · about €388
Due on 10 March, June, September and December once the Finanzamt has set them. In your first year they are often set low and then catch up, so set money aside.
Before you rely on this
- German income tax is calculated from a continuous formula, not from flat bands. The figure here approximates it with bands, so treat it as a planning estimate rather than a computation.
- Freiberufler and Gewerbe are treated differently: only a Gewerbe pays trade tax and registers with the Gewerbeamt, and the Finanzamt decides which you are.
- Working mainly for a single client can be treated as Scheinselbstständigkeit, with retroactive social contributions charged to the client.
- Health insurance is compulsory and charged on a minimum base regardless of what you actually earn.
- Contribution rates and thresholds are revised at least every year, and personal circumstances (dependants, other income, regional schemes) move the number. Treat this as a planning figure, not a filing.
VAT is not included above: it is collected from your clients and passed on, so it never was your money, but the periodic return is compulsory whether or not you owe anything.
Your estimate: €1,529 a month take-home as a Selbstständiger / Freiberufler. An accountant in Germany usually costs less per year than a single mistimed filing, and will tell you which regime actually fits your numbers. Free quote →
What this is based on
2026 rates · ELSTER and the Finanzamt
Rules and rates change. This tool gives you an informed starting point and the legal references to check, it is not legal or tax advice, and it does not replace a professional where money or deadlines are at stake.
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