How is my tax burden calculated?
The income tax rate in 2023 is as follows:
Your taxable income remains tax-free up to the basic allowance.
The basic tax allowance in 2023 is 10,908 euros for single people and 21,816 euros for married couples (for 2024: 11,604 / 23,208 euros).
From a taxable income of 10,909 euros for singles and 21,818 euros for married couples, the tax rate is 14% (initial tax rate). If your taxable income exceeds 62,810 euros (single) or 125,620 euros (married), the tax rate is 42%.From a taxable income of 277,826 euros for singles and 555,652 euros for married couples, the tax rate is 45% (top tax rate).
For income from employment, income tax is levied by deducting wages. This means that the employer withholds an estimated amount of your income tax when you pay your salary and pays it to your tax office on your behalf. However, personal expenses such as certain business expenses, extraordinary expenses and special expenses are not taken into account; this can only be done as part of the income tax return that you submit to the tax office (Exemption: Application of a wage tax reduction). Since certain criteria are not taken into account during the year, in most cases a tax refund results from filing the income tax return.
